I won't bother writing a long biography for you guys, since I know that most of you will just scroll past it anyways. (Ha-ha, don't worry, I do it too!) So here are the basics. This IS my first real fanfiction, so take it easy on me please! I absolutely love constructive critism, but I can't handle flamers. If it's the pairing that you don't like, than don't even bother to flame AT ALL. I put the pairing in the summary, so it's your own fault, not mine. Also, I would like to stay in touch with my readers, so let me know if you have any thoughts or ideas on my story. Let me know how you want to see the story unfold! It would be a big help to me, and it will help me to keep all of you readers happy as well!

I know that I said I wouldn't make this long, but considering the rarity of the pairing that I chose, I thought I would try to explain myself a little. Now I know that this couple is strange, but that's what gives it its flare. This story is for all of you who are tired of reading the average fan fiction, about the same characters. It's a healthy change of pace for anyone who's sick of the same old thing. I got this idea from a challenge, and thought that I would check out the other stories on this site that included this pairing, that way I could see how other authors made it work. I was shocked at how few there were. I couldn't find any others anywhere else on the web either. So I decided to accept this writing challenge, and try to find a way to write a decent story, with a Ginta and Kagome pairing! I'm pretty new at this, but I think I can work with what I've got.

(For those of you who want to know, the challenge was: "Write a story about Ginta having a crush on Kagome, and the struggles that he faces because of his feeling towards his leader's intended. He finally gets the courage to do something about it, and tells her how he feels." - I will try to stay within these boundaries, but I really don't know quite where this story is going yet. I might have to step outside the rules a bit, but If the quality of the story depends on it, who really cares?) Anyways, I've rambled on enough! (I know... I said I wouldn't. Sorry!) On with the story!

I don't own Inuyasha!

Key:

"Speaking"

"Thinking"

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It was sometime after midnight, and Ginta had just taken his post as night watch over the wolf tribe's land. He and a few of the other wolf demons took turns guarding the territory when they weren't out hunting, or searching for Naraku. Kouga wanted to make sure that his lands were never vulnerable to attack. While some found the job to be a minor annoyance, Ginta really didn't mind. He enjoyed the time alone. It allowed him to think. And as much as he loved his tribe, sometimes he just needed his space. After all, he did have a lot on his mind.

Kagome. That was all he ever thought about anymore. At first it was only curiosity. After all, she was a little strange. Certainly not in a bad way, but in a way that just made you wonder about her. She was such a mystery. No one knows where she came from, or how she got here. It was almost as if she were a goddess or an angel sent out on an earthly mission. Perhaps she traveled from a distant land -one far away- where her clothing and personality were nothing out of the ordinary. She was courageous, and intelligent, unlike most of the human women that he knew. She also had a good sense of humor, which was out of the ordinary for any of the women that he knew. He had seen her laughing and joking around with her friends on a few of the rare occasions when they crossed paths. Who would have thought that his curiosity would lead to admiration? Not even he saw that coming. But when his admiration began to turn into something more, he was stunned. It was impossible. He knew that he could never be with her. Not that he was deserving in the first place, but Kouga would have his head if he so much as looked at her in that way. Why was fate so cruel? He had never felt this way about anyone before and there was nothing that he could do, or say to have her. He had given up trying to forget about her. It was pointless. As soon as he pushed the thoughts of her out of his mind, he would see an image of her laughing, or giving one of those sweet, innocent smiles that just made you want to lose yourself. She was beautiful; the most beautiful creature in the world in his eyes. Her glowing personality, her looks, and her brave, courageous nature drew him in like a moth to the flame. Her face was burned into the back of his skull, creating an image of her that he could never erase. No. He couldn't forget her.

Ginta stretched and began to make himself comfortable on the rock that he was perched upon. He knew who he was. He was an underling. Just another one of Kouga's followers. "Why would Kagome want someone like me anyways?" Ginta thought sadly. She could do way better. After all, she had the wolf prince himself pining after her. And not to mention Inuyasha, he was another story altogether! He got to spend a great deal of of time with her, unlike the fleeting moments every few weeks that Ginta was able to visit. Who knows if those two have feelings for each other or not? Was it possible that there were more men out there that wanted her as well? He supposed that there were. "Who wouldn't want to be with her?" Ginta pondered.

He let out a dejected sigh and hung his head. He was hopeless.

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"SIT!"

Once again, Inuyasha found his face glued to the ground. He had only been trying to get Kagome to put down her books and get some sleep, but she had (of course) refused. Needless to say, Inuyasha did something stupid. He grabbed her books and threw them into the nearby stream. Kagome frantically dove in and managed to retrieve most of them, but her calculus book had been swept away with the current, never to be seen again. When the angry, dripping Kagome emerged from the water, Inuyasha had laughed. That was his next mistake. And that's how he found himself where he was, kissing the dirt like so many times before. He would never learn.

"Thanks a lot Inuyasha." Kagome bit out sarcastically. "You just cost me the chance at getting a decent grade on my exam next week, and a fifty dollar fine for losing that book!" Kagome yelled as she began to dry herself off.

"It's you own fault! You should have been sleeping, not pouring over those damn books again! It's almost 1 am for god's sake! How are we supposed to find jewel shards if you're always needing to stop and rest because you wont sleep at night?" Inuyasha retaliated.

"Excuse me? You have no idea what I have to go through to keep this up! I have responsibilities and obligations in my own time! I put a lot of work into finding those jewel shards, but I have to make some time for school work! Why cant you just understand that?"

"Look, I'm sorry... I guess I over reacted. I just want you to get some rest." Inuyasha said as he looked at the ground. He was just angry, and he let his temper get the best of him. He hated saying sorry, but he knew if he ever wanted Kagome to forgive him than he must. After all, he really did have a hard time understanding Kagome's world, and why school was so important to her. Maybe it was a concept that he couldn't grasp, and he should just take her word for it.

Kagome sighed and accepted his apology. It was a pretty rare occurrence to see Inuyasha apologize, and she wasn't about to let it pass her by.

"Well, I guess I better go a little farther downstream and see if my book washed up somewhere. I might actually be able to salvage it and avoid the lost or damaged fee." kagome said, now in a much softer, less angry tone.

Inuyasha jumped back up into his perch in a nearby tree, muttering a "don't be too long" and watched Kagome's retreating form wander along the bank. He surveyed the surroundings, making sure that there were no nearby dangers, and that the rest of the gang was still resting peacefully. Miroku was leaning against a tree, staff across his lap with a peaceful look on his face, Sango was leaning up against Kirara, and Shippo was balled up in Kagome's sleeping bag thrashing around and snoring loudly. He never was a light sleeper. Inuyasha was pretty amazed that they all managed to be sleeping soundly after his and Kagome's little spat, but he assumed that they were just used to it by now. They did get into a lot of arguments, but they were getting better. Deep down, Inuyasha really did care for her.

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Ginta leapt off of his perch and decided to patrol the borders for a while. There wasn't anything going on around there, and it never hurt to survey the land. It was part of the job to make sure that everything was secure. Plus, it would do him some good to get out and stretch his legs. Maybe that would help to ease his troubled mind- if only for a while. "I really do love her." He thought as he walked along. There was no denying it now; he was in over his head. He almost felt pathetic. He stopped by the stream, intending to get a drink of water, and maybe splash some cool water onto his face, when he saw a book float by. "Hmm... that's odd..." He said as he snatched the book out of the water, and shook off as much of the excess water as he could. It appeared to be a bit soggy and water logged, but it was still pretty much intact. It couldn't have been in there for long. It appeared to be a book of advanced mathematics. Maybe it belonged to a scholar or nobleman; although it was unlike anything he had ever seen before. It was definatly above his level. Curious, he opened the front cover, hoping to reveal some more information about this mysterious book, or possibly even it's owner. And there, on the first line of the first page was inscribed: Property of Kagome Higurashi.

Ginta shook his head. "I must be imagining things." He thought as he began flipping through the rest of the book, looking for some answers. She had finally gotten to him so badly that he was hallucinating. "I know that she is smart, but there is no way that she is this advanced... right? And even so, this means that she would have to be nearby, the water damage is very minimal." He thought as a small, soggy piece of paper flopped out of the book and onto the ground. The ink was smudged, but you could still make out a few of the equations, and the name Kagome Higurashi in the top right-hand corner.

"Whoa..." he said as he put the paper back into the book and snapped it shut."I guess I was wrong. It turns out I knew even less about her than I thought" The wind picked up, and the breeze brought in a sweet, calming scent. One that he only recognized as Kagome's. A small smile tugged at his lips. Oh how he loved that scent. He dashed off in her direction. He now had a reason to see her. No one would be upset with him for returning a book... right?

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"Ouch!" Kagome exclaimed as a low branch scraped across her cheek. "Stupid Inuyasha!" I've been looking everywhere for that book, where the hell is it!"

"Looking for this?"

Kagome jumped, making a small screeching noise, and reflexively turned around and bashed the owner of the voice over the head. It was late, and she had been wandering around the forest all night looking for that damn book.

She heard a groan a looked down to see a slightly hurt Ginta crumpled on the ground. "Ow. You can really pack a punch." He said as he laughed good naturedly.

"Oh Ginta I'm sorry!" Kagome said as she bent down to make sure that he was ok. "I didn't know it was you- I guess I just got a little spooked. Sorry!"

Kagome stood up, and Ginta did his best to regain his composure and straighten himself up. "It's ok. Really. No harm done. I was just patrolling the territory when I found this." He said as he lifted up the book. "I thought you might want it back."

"Thanks." She said as she gave a soft giggle. "Inuyasha went on the rampage when I refused to sleep, and stayed up studying instead. He threw all my books into the river. I managed to get most of them back, but this one got away." she said, gesturing towards the book as she took it from his hands. "In case you cant tell, I had to do some swimming!" she exclaimed, pointing to her waterlogged tresses and dripping clothes. It had been a good 30 minutes since she began searching, but the cold, moist, night air hadn't done much to help her soggy appearance. "Hah." Ginta laughed to himself. "She looks kinda cute like that." He surveyed and form, then gave an audible gulp. He hadn't noticed it before, but the water made her white shirt practically transparent in the moonlight. While she did appear to be wearing another layer of clothing underneath, it was small, and didn't cover much. "Oh god... This must be some sort of a crazy dream" He thought as he quickly looked down and tried to hide the blush that was slowly creeping onto his face. Hopefully she wouldn't see it.

All of a sudden, a strong gust of wind picked up, and Ginta could smell Kouga approaching. "Oh no. And here I thought this situation couldn't get any worse! He must have smelled Kagome's scent on the breeze, and come to see her. He's probably wondering what the hell I am doing out here with her- alone- in the middle of the night!" He thought frantically as Kouga approached, and slowed to a stop in front of them. "Exactly what do you think you are doing out here with my Kagome while you are supposed to be on patrol?!" Kouga barked out as he glared down at Ginta.

"He was returning this!" Kagome but in as she showed him the book. She told him the whole story about Inuyasha's little temper tantrum, and told him that she had been out searching for it when he found her and gave it back.

"Hmm." Kouga grunted out. "Very well then" he said, stopping to eye Kagome's dripping form. Apparently he had noticed her state of dress, and was pleased with what he saw. "You may leave us Ginta."

Ginta noticed the way that Kouga was looking at her, and saw the lustful gleam in his eyes, but knew better than to protest. He had to keep his cool.

"Go back to patrolling the lands, and no slacking off this time." Kouga spat out, annoyed that Ginta was still standing there. He obeyed, and took off. He knew that Kouga wouldn't do anything to hurt Kagome.

"Well, I better get back to camp now, I've been gone for a while and Inuyasha might start to worry." Kagome said tiredly. She had had quite a night.

"Allow me to escort you. I obviously can't trust Inuyasha to see to your safety. What were you doing out here alone anyways?" Kouga questioned, still eyeing her hungrily. Kagome was beginning to notice his stare, and it was a little unnerving.

"Well, I wasn't planning on going very far, but it turns out that the river's current is much faster than I thought. It managed to carry my book pretty far downstream. I had to come all the way out here to get it back. It would have taken me even longer if Ginta hadn't found it and brought it back to me." "Anyways, I appreciate your offer, but I think I can manage."

"Nonsense. I wouldn't allow my woman to go walking through the forest at this hour of the night alone. I wouldn't want any harm to come to you, my love." He said, watching her nervous expression with a smirk on his face. Kagome gave a short, uncomfortable laugh as he grabbed her hand and began to sniff out their camp, leading them back. Kouga was a little disappointed at her unresponsiveness to him, and began to formulate a plan to win her over.

His thoughts, however, were interrupted by a yell.

"Get your filthy hands off of her you stinking wolf!" Yelled Inuyasha. He noticed that Kagome Had been gone for a long time, and went out looking for her.

"So that's what you were doing out here, huh Kagome?" He said angrily as he too noticed her transparent shirt. "And here I thought you were looking for a book, while you were really out flirting with wolf boy!"

"Calm down mutt, she was looking for her book. One of my henchmen found it, and returned it; and I offered to escort her back to camp since you obviously cant look after her properly. I shouldn't have even brought her back to you. I really should have taken her back to my den. I can protect her better than you!" Kouga argued.

"Shut up you bastard!" Inuyasha yelled.

"Enough, you two!" "It's been a really long night, and I would just like to get back to camp and get some rest. Thank you for walking me back Kouga, and goodnight." "Let's go back Inuyasha, it's probably 3 am now, and I really don't feel like arguing with you anymore. It's been a rough night."

Both men were shocked, but agreed. Kagome climbed on Inuyasha's back, and he sped off, as Kouga watched jealously from where he stood.

"You will become my mate Kagome."

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Ok! And end Chapter! I really don't feel that I did very well on this chapter... It is 4:30 on a Thursday morning, and I have to get up in 2 hours, so I kind of rushed the end. I didn't really write this the way that I wanted it to be written. I had some great ideas, but I didn't use them well. I was going to wait until later to write this, but I wanted to get this out there and at least see what you thought of it before I went on any further, or put any more work into it. Let me know what you think, and tell me if you think I should continue or not. Please keep in mind that this isn't my best writing though, you can expect better from me in future chapters (that is if you think there should be future chapters).

Thank you for reading!