Kagome had been traveling with the Inuyasha gang for a couple of months. She hardly ever spoke, All that anyone knew was that she was apparently the reincarnation of Inuyasha's ex-love Kikyo. Kagome had proven that although she didn't communicate well socially, she was more than a valuable in battler, hence the reason Inuyasha let her travel with the group. Well that was what he said. Truthfully Inuyasha had been very taken with Kagome. She was mysterious and evasive, yet she had a warm aura and a kind heart. He had seen her tend to Shippou, the tiny fox kitsune, more than once. Sango had only just begun to get to know Kagome, and Miroku was scared of Kagome. Ever since the first time he tried to grope her and got an arrow shot through his hand, he had stayed pretty clear of the raven haired beauty.

Inuyasha watched Kagome who was walking at the back of the group with a determined look on her face. They were tracking down Naraku, an evil half-demon with jewel shards from the sacred shikon-no-tama, and were finally closing in on him. Things were much easier with Kagome's shard detecting abilities. He decided he should go keep her company. It was time he got to know her a little bit.

"Hey", Inuyasha said to her when he got close to her.

"Hello", Kagome replied. Her voice was unreadable, cold yet friendly at the same time.

Inuyasha hesitated .He wanted so badly to get to know her , but all he could seem to talk about with her were Naraku and battle tactics. He was no Romeo. "So how long do you think until we find Naraku?", he asked.

Kagome suddenly froze. With a look of slight terror she replied ,"He seems to have found us".

As if right on cue a deep cold voice echoed through the woods, "Well well Inuyasha, let the battle begin".

Naraku shot out from a near by tree and locked swords with Inuyasha. The continued to battle for several minutes none of them seeming to be giving up , then suddenly Naraku made a huge gash on Inuyasha's left arm. Inuyasha's scream was heard throughout the forest.

"INUYASHA", Kagome yelled out. Everyone was shocked. Kagome had never expressed that much emotion, or showed any worry for Inuyasha.

Naraku was descending upon Inuyasha's beaten body lying on the ground. He lifted his sword to make the final blow, but just as his sword was descending a purifying arrow stuck him in the wrist making him drop his sword.

"You must be Kagome, Kikyo's reincarnation. You don't do Kikyo justice at all. She was much more-", Naraku was cut off by Kagome.

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP .Do NOT regard me simply as "Kikyo's reincarnation", I am NOTHING like Kikyo nor will I ever be!", she yelled at him with tears forming in her eyes. Then she shot an arrow that shone with the most blinding red light. It got Naraku square in the chest.

Naraku fell to the ground then turned to clay. Another decoy. Damn it. Kagome fell to the ground and burst into sobs.

It was safe to say that everyone was shocked by her sudden outburst of rage, especially Inuyasha who had watched everything from his spot on the ground. Kagome had saved him. If it weren't for Kagome's arrow , he would have been done for.

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A couple of days went by and everyone had simply ignored Kagome's outburst. It was plainly evident she didn't want to talk about it. After the battle with one of Naraku's decoys , they had simply waited until she had calmed down then set up camp while Sango looked after Kagome. Inuyasha hated to see Kagome cry, she hadn't been herself since the battle. She was even more reserved if that were possible.

Inuyasha and Kagome were sitting next to each other by the fire. Miroku and Sango had gone to get fire wood while Shippou was fast asleep a couple of feet away from the fire. Tears started to slip down Kagome's cheeks.

"I'm so sorry Inuyasha", Kagome almost whispered.

"Sorry for what?", he was genuinely confused. What in the world did she have to be sorry for?

"For being here. I know I've been a huge burden .I know you only let me come along because I look like Kikyo. I know you'd love it for me to leave, but the thing is I have nothing to go back to. I don't even know where I belong. I don't even have an identity, I'm simply referred to as "Kikyo's reincarnation" do you know how horrible that is? To tell the truth I can hardly remember anything about my life until a couple of weeks before I met you ,Sango, Miroku, and Shippou. I have no past, and if Naraku gets his way I'll have no future either. I'm just Kikyo's shadow. Trying to live up to a dead girls reputation isn't exactly what I want out of life", Kagome's tears were falling uncontrollably .

Inuyasha just sat there watching the poor girl. He'd had no idea she didn't know anything about her life, and all that about constantly being compared to Kikyo, he had no idea she felt that way. It was true that when he had first met Kagome the resemblance between she and Kikyo had struck him, but Kagome had a light about her hidden under her grave expression, and the few times he had seen Kagome smile it had lit up his life. He had, much to his dismay, fallen in love with the mystery girl he knew almost nothing about. It was just SOMETHING about her he loved.

"Kagome, you are far from being a burden, and the fact that you resemble Kikyo means nothing to me. You are far from being Kikyo, and that's a good thing. You're better. You have kindness in your heart unlike Kikyo.I don't want you to live up to her reputation, I want you to be Kagome", Inuyasha said staring at the ground as to hide his blush.

Then suddenly she grabbed him and started to sob into his chest.

"Thank you Inuyasha", she murmured. Then she looked up at him and in her eyes were the emotion that Inuyasha was the most surprised to see; love. Kagome lifted her head and connected her lips to Inuyasha's.

Their first kiss.The first of many that were to come.

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God that was crap. loll. I just had to get it out though. please ignore the last sentence that was just some random corny-ness to finish off the story.plz review and don't hesitate to tell me how much you hated it LOL

lots of love

babyinu