"Princess" I felt a nudge and a voice softly whispering in my ear.

"Huh?" Goemon was holding me in his arms when I opened my eyes. Panicked I crawled away. I've never been allowed to be near a man so closely, as a princess my body was reserved for what ever man my father appointed me to marry but it gave me a strange feeling. It was pleasant yet, unpleasant. He was warm and oddly enough I felt safe but unpleasant because he was not the man I loved and such things should be for married couples only.

"W-what do you think you're doing?!"

"I was waking you up peacefully" he smiled

"I am a princess, certain actions could ruin my reputation to marry"

"Time to go" Kotaro interrupted, it was sunrise, and I was groggy. Its only been a couple hours, how does he expect me to keep moving when I've barely rested.

"You talk in your sleep" Saizo told me with a scowl spread across his face "That's a sign of a troubled mind"

I've always talked in my sleep, no one ever cared because I was always slept alone. It's embarrassing, I could have said anything, anything! My most sacred secrets could be exposed to men I barely know.

"Well... what did I say?" I said trying not to sound too concerned..

"Lots of lewd things, I didn't expect a girl like you to be such a pervert" Goemon laughed and my face drained of colour, I was horrified, petrified. What did I say?

Sasuke frown "Hey, hey don't tease her like that, she as pale as a ghost" he pat my head "Don't worry you didn't say anything like that, though I wouldn't mind it, if it was directed to me"

"Can we just get going?" I pouted "The sooner we get out of this forest, the better"

Saizo spoke to us all "If we continue we should reach the village by noon" he then threw a sack at me, he really had a bad attitude.

"Hey, what was that for?" I shouted at him "I'm the princess of Tsu and I will not have you treat me with such disrespect!"

"In the castle you were the princess of Tsu, here you are the Kusunoki princess, you abide by the ninja laws. Now change, your royal attire will attract too much unwanted attention and with Nobukatsu's men looking for you, it will be hard to pass through"

I wasn't happy about having to hide my royal title, or that we had to leave my expensive kimono behind and I was even less thrilled to be the Kusunoki princess with people hunting me down to bring my head as an offering to their lord. No one said a word the rest of the journey, it might have been the fatigue kicking in but at least the village.

"Alright, here's the plan, Saizo and Sasuke find out as much as you can about Nobukatsu's men in this area, Kotaro send a message to Hanzo that we've reached the first checkpoint and how many men are patrolling from here to the next village. I will take Setsuna and watch over her pretending to be her fiancée"

"Why do you get to stay with Setsuna; I heard you're famous for information gathering" Sasuke said loudly.

"Because I want to spend some alone time with Setsuna" he put his arm around me, he was too pushy even though I told him of the circumstances.

Everyone changed into different clothing, it was strange seeing them in normal attire, it was strange thinking they were just normal people. And just like that they were gone. Goemon took me to a tea house, it was small and crowded and busy. But Goemon seemed to attract attention when he walked in. What happened to notattracting attention like Saizo said? The lustful look these women gave him, it was so...indecent.

"Does he live in the village? I don't think I've seen him around before" a woman whispered to another while keeping her eyes on him.

"Well aren't you popular?" I folded my arms.

"It's nothing new to me, women always look at me" he smiled back at them.

"Playboy..." quietly I said under my breath.

The waitress steadily approach, Goemon's head shot up, interested in her probably. She was beautiful, with long black hair held with a beaded comb. Not that he was looking there, his eyes were fixated on her chest of course, she was busty for such a thin woman.

She greeted us with a smile "What will you have?"

"Certain things that aren't on the menu" his eyes met here and her cheeks flushed red. This was sickening. Watching him flirt around, especially when I'm supposed his fake fiancée. I sighed loudly so they would notice my discomfort, the waitress look at me then to Goemon.

"Is...this your wife?" she said slowly.

I was about to tell her that I was his fiancée, just like he planned but he kicked my shin to shut me up.

"This is my little sister" he told her.

"Oh, she's so cute" the waitress smiled. Without the royal pampering I'm used to, I look younger without make up, at least three years younger. It saddened me, I was a grown seventeen year old woman but referred to like a little kid. Nothing about me was cute, animals are cute, babies are cute, flowers are cute but I am not cute, I am the beauty of Tsu! That whole argument went on inside my head but all of me wished to yell it out. She retrieved green tea for us and poured me a cup.

"Dango, please" I placed my order, if I didn't she would stare at Goemon all day. As soon as she was out of sight I kicked Goemon in the shin and he nearly spit out his tea.

"What the hell was that for?" his eyes narrowed.

"The plan was for me to pretend to be your fiancée" I whispered "Or did your forget that when you saw the pretty lady?

"If she thinks we're together then I could never have some fun with her" he took a sip of tea while watching her in the kitchen.

I held my head "Unbelievable, start thinking with your head and not the other one"

The waitress came back with my dango, it smelled so sweet, I loved sweet things. I took a bite, it was delicious and I smiled. The waitress however was still there, giving Goemon alluring looks. It was irritating, to say the least. I've heard of Goemon Ishikawa, for his unrivaled skills but mostly for his skills involving women, seeing it first hand was less thrilling especially when one is trying to eat in peace.

"Excuse me, don't you have a job to do?" I glared at her.

Loud men then entered the shop, three of them and each had a sword. Samurai. Nobukatsu's probably, they approached our table and glanced at the waitress. Their lips curled in a crooked smile and they grabbed her hand, pulling her into them.

"I like pretty girls like you, I've been bored working all the time so I think I might need you for some fun" she tried to wriggle away but his grip on her was tight. I sipped my tea, I guess that's one way to make her leave. But Goemon stood up and skillfully twisted his arm so he would let her go.

"Do you think you can challenge me?" the man unsheathed his sword.

"I can take you all on without even wielding my sword" Goemon was very cocky. But he was true to his words, he knocked all three of them out without even reaching for his sword, the waitress threw her arms around him.

"Thank you, if those men had taken me.. I don't even want to think about it, please let me repay you" she held his hand.

"What do you have in mind?" Goemon cracked a sly smile.

"I could offer you a place to stay tonight, I know its not much but I will also provide dinner" she bowed, Goemon lifted her chin.

"What's your name?"

"Maemi"

"Thank you Maemi, will would gladly accept your offer" he was so flirtatious, the stories about him are true.

We waited until nighttime, apparently Kotaro and Sasuke had something important to take care of and wouldn't be back until tomorrow, there was no word about Saizo but I would bet he was doing his own thing too. Maemi showed us to her home, it was small, the size of our broom closet in the castle, she only had two rooms in her house, cramped and small. She cooked for us-adequtely and drank sake with Goemon, of course more flirting.

"My, my its gotten late, I think its time for me to sleep" Maemi stood up and Goemon grabbed her hand.

"If you don't mind I'd like to share your room" he said, she nodded and smiled, the two left. I walked into the other room and closed the screen door, facing it as I did.

"What's up with those two?" I muttered to myself.

"Isn't it obvious?" I jumped, and turned around to see Saizo standing by the window.

"Saizo, why are you here?"

"Someone has to watch over you at night. Tonight that job is mine. While you slept yesterday we worked out a schedule"

"What's Goemon even doing..." I sighed.

"Why are you jealous, did you already fall for him?" Saizo chuckled.

"Of course not" I shook my head.

With a sudden swift motion Saizo held my wrists up against the wall, his face drew very close.

"What are you doing?" I tried not to sound too panicked, my heart was racing from the sudden situation.

Saizo's lips were dangerously close "Do you want me to show you what they are doing?"

"You must be joking, I'm a princess continuing what you're doing will end up with your head on a spike regardless of how famous you think you are"

He laughed and pulled away "Really, that attitude of yours, its amusing but it will get you killed"

I ignored him, that was shocking, not scary but just shocking.

"Get some sleep, it will be a busy day tomorrow" Saizo whispered.