"Hey, what was that about?" Emiko trots to keep up, her short legs working overtime to match my strides. We're walking up a path in the woods marked on our map as 'Cabin Road.' It's stifling out, having only gotten hotter since we arrived via bullet bus. I grumble a little— both about the premature summer weather and Emi's question.

"He knew my dad." I pause in front of a fork in the road, one side labeled 'Lake Path' and the other reading 'Cabin Road.' They were very thematic around here.

"Oh… well, he's been kind of a big deal for a couple months now." Emiko fidgets, groping for a tactful way to change the subject. I humor her— it wasn't that big a deal anyway. Some kids were bound to know his name.

"Think our cabins are down 'Lake Path?'" I tease, nudging her toward the right prong of the fork. Her smile returns, and she shoves me back onto the right path. We walk for a few more minutes, and I let the sights and sounds of the forest calm me down. We didn't exactly live in a wooded area, so smelling the earthy forest air was a treat. The mossy smell of warm lake water wafts from the direction Lake Path would have taken us. I was also looking forward to the cabins, and settling into bed. Our schedules told us we had a couple hours to ourselves before dinner, and then we had a welcome bonfire.

We approach the looming cabins— tall log blocks with two stories of windows and classic pointed roofs. They were arranged in a pentagon around the looped path, with a beautiful rose bush as a centerpiece. Each cabin had a huge placard on the front, above the door— Ka, Fu, Rai, Do, and Sui, in order. We enter from between Do and Rai.

Emiko glances at her paper. "I got… Fu Cabin." A grin of relief and excitement swells to the surface— I was glad we were at least in the same cabin.

"Me too! Mom must have arranged that." We head toward the cabin with the bright green sign, and find a college age guy with dark skin and gill tattoos on his neck. He's muscular— I assume he's a swimmer or a surfer, judging from the shark tooth around his neck and beach shorts. Upon seeing us, he grins, and I'm taken aback at how sharkish he seems.

"Hey, I'm Kisame— the counselor in charge of this cabin. You guys are…?" He glances at the blue clipboard in his rough hands, and Emiko pipes up.

"Emiko and Nana." She looks around, and I mimic her. It's a nice cabin, with a sitting area complete with sleek green couches and a tv. I can see a door on this floor marked 'Hinata/Kei.' The stairs near the entrance must lead to our bedroom— I'm not particular pleased to get an upstairs bedroom, but whatever. Kisame finds the names on a paper near the bottom of his stack and nods.

"Yup! Here, I got your keys here." He fishes around and grabs out two shiny silver keys. Emiko grabs them quickly, and hands one to me. I feel its weight in my hands and listen to the illegal dog bark in the next cabin over.

"Okay, the only rules are to not break anything on purpose, and not to go out past lights out, which is 11. You've got your own bathrooms in your rooms, so use those. There are also bathrooms around the camp. Uh….. those don't have showers though." He pauses to think about what else to tell us. "Watch out for bears?"

"Why do we have a guy counselor in a girl cabin?" Emiko asks, squinting. Kisame's dark cheeks flush just a little, and he laughs at the straightforward question.

"They forgot to hire more than one girl, so it is what it is. Don't worry, I don't bite." He grins again, and I feel something cold run down my spine. He didn't need to choose such a fitting metaphor. Emiko looks just as unnerved as me, and I drag her off to our rooms.

"Creepy." She mumbles as we trek up the stairs, and find a door at the top. We also have a sign— Nana/Emiko.

"I dunno, he's… kinda cute." I mutter, trying to keep my voice down as Emiko fumbles with the lock. She pauses to stare at me in slight disbelief.

"All the cute boys in our school, and you come here and crush on the two weird ones."

"Shut up. I am entitled to shit taste." We enter the room to find an impeccably symmetrical loft— windows on the sides over two king size beds, dressers, foot lockers, night stands, lamps, wardrobes and the like. There was a door on the back wall. Emiko and I peek inside— a full size jacuzzi and stand shower, sheltered toilet, and double vanity framed with lights. Emiko's mouth drops open.

"Holy SHIT! My parent's room isn't this nice!" She cackles. "God, can I live here forever?!"

I burst into laughter— this was pretty nice, even considering my family life. I flop onto the right bed, and she claims the left. After rolling around on it, utterly dwarfed by the cushions and blankets, she stops and stares at the ceiling.

"I'm so lucky."

"Shut up. You deserve this just as much as anyone else here."

"No, I don't. I know I've been saying that, but I'm not rich or famous or any of that. This is all thanks to you. And I am so lucky to be friends with you." She sits up to look at me with serious eyes. I knew what she meant. It wasn't the money she was excited about; she genuinely thought she was lucky to be friends with me and me alone. I blush and toss a pillow at her.

"Hey!" She sends one back, and I catch it. It was good to know there were still people who could look at me like I was me.

"Thanks, Emiko. After everything, I…" I can feel my voice waver.

"Shut up! You're gonna make me cry." She laughs, and climbs out of bed. "Let's go introduce ourselves to the people downstairs!"

I roll off the bed and thump onto my feet. "Yeah. That sounds good." I choke back the lump in my throat and force a laugh as we head down the stairs. Kei was down there, dragging in a duffle bag. She wasn't a girl that really stood out, wearing a lot of of gray, drab blues, and black. The timid girl with dark, raven hair and pale blue eyes was there as well—she's gorgeous behind those bangs and small disposition.

"Hey! We're your bunkmates for the summer!" Emiko says, while Kisame futzes around in the background. I think being a counselor for a bunch of girls was making him a little uncomfortable, no matter how easily he seemed to be taking it. "I'm Emiko!"

"M-My name is Hinata Hyuuga." The raven haired girl bows politely. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Nana." I speak up, waving a little as I sit on one of the green couches. "This is my first time at something like this."

"Me too." Kei nods. "I'm Kei. My parents sent me here to socialize with other rich kids." I cringe a little inside— she was making it obvious she wasn't here voluntarily. Her face scans us darkly, but then lightens just a touch. "But… I might have a little fun here anyway."

I feel my chest untighten. That's right… we were here to have fun. Relax and enjoy our last real summer. Leave drama at the door.

KNOCK KNOCK!

I groan a little to myself; I had to make a door metaphor. Hinata walks over and opens the door timidly, revealing Naruto, Kiba, his little dog, two guys with their hair in ponytails, and… Lee. My heart stops as Naruto perks right up. "Hinata! Great! We were wondering who was in this cabin, dattebayo!" He chirrups— the boy was as bright and cheerful as the sun. He was almost blinding to look at, all tan and blonde and blue eyed. Even his smile was blinding. It should be illegal to have teeth that white.

Hinata rightfully goes weak, face blooming in a deep rose red as he hugged her excitedly. "N-Naruto!"

"Hey, I don't know you guys! You new to Camp Gakure?" He comes over to face us. I feel like I need sunglasses.

"Yeah, we're new." I laugh a little despite myself. His grin only gets bigger, which should be physically impossible.

"Thought so. This side of Gakure has been just for us for years. Like, since we were 12." He juts out a hand, and I shake it awkwardly. Holy shit, his body temperature is through the roof. This guy embodied the actual sun. "I'm Naruto. This is Kiba, Neji, Bushy Brows, and our counselor Deidara."

Kiba raises his hand as his name is said, and the guy with the brunette ponytail nods at 'Neji.' Lee gives a smile just as blinding as Naruto's, and the blonde known as 'Deidara' passes us to go talk to Kisame. I can hear them strike up a conversation containing mostly hushed muttering and stifled laughter.

Meanwhile, Emiko is introducing us. Kei looks a little bored with the whole thing, eyes lingering on Deidara for a while. Her eyes dart away as he looks over at her, however— she's trying too hard to act like she wasn't staring. By time my attention returns to the conversation, everyone is staring at me expectantly. Blood rushes to my cheeks again.

"Uh…"

"And this space-case is Nana." Emiko laughs. "We've been best friends for years."

Lee smiles, and my heart jumps into my throat and seizes my voice box, but I close my trachea before I can say anything stupid. I have to wrestle for control of my tongue.

"Yeah, years." I finally mumble, but they've moved onto other conversation by then. Kiba's puppy is introduced— his name is Akamaru, and according to his master, he's the best hunting dog in the world. He couldn't possibly leave Akamaru home all summer, and besides, everyone had come to expect him here at camp. Emiko lets Akamaru lick her face, and I try to forget that only an hour ago he had puked on the bus.

As we migrate to the couches, Naruto talks about how his mom and dad left him his fortune after they died from a disease called 'Kyuubi.' He was immune, so he was letting scientists test on him now and then. Kiba's family ran the biggest dog food manufacturer in the country. Hinata and Neji were cousins in one of the most influential political families, the Hyuugas. Hinata was on the fast track to becoming a governor's assistant. Neji was interested in becoming a lawyer. Lee was the adopted son of Might Guy, world famous martial artist. I could listen to him talk for ages— he was so passionate. Kei talks briefly about her parents: CEOs for a very popular grocery store called 'Scooters.' When our turn rolls around, Emiko talks about our hometown in Kuma, and exaggerates my new mansion.

"We-we don't need to talk about that, Emi." I mumble bashfully.

"Alright, your highness." She teases, and I feel my blood go absolutely freezing. I pinch her thigh again, on the bruise I left on the bus. She yelps quietly while Naruto mentions that everyone here had a mansion or two, and we both quietly agree.

"Oh, we should probably get to dinner." Deidara says suddenly; I hadn't even noticed him and Kisame join our conversation. How long have we been talking?

Everyone stands and ambles along toward the door. The sun has started to set and the dusky air is starting to cool off. This was my favorite time of day, and my eyes are glued to the multicolored clouds and rainbow gradient atmosphere, slowly turning from fiery gold to royal midnight. I don't even notice who I bump into until my eyes snap from the painting above me to a round pair of eyes, framed with thick eyebrows.

"L-Lee!" I squeak, cheeks flushing again. "Sorry, I didn't see you!"

He just smiles, and shakes his head a little, before looking up at the swirling sunset.

"It is beautiful! I see why you were distracted." He looks back at me. I smile, and feel my chest swell up.

"I love the sky. It's so beautiful at any time of the day in any weather. Sunset is my favorite, but it's beautiful when it's stormy or when it's clear... It's like we're living in the world's biggest painting." I manage to bite my tongue before I can gush anymore, and glance over at him. His eyes are fixed on my face, and I feel my ruddy blush double, even triple in intensity.

"Sorry."

"No, please! Keep talking! You have been very quiet since I met you, I enjoy seeing you open up." His smile is infectious, and I giggle giddily.

We chat about the sky, and then the forest, and a little about the ocean before we reach the mess hall. Today was a barbecue, celebrating the start of camp. The smell of hot dogs, hamburgers, and kebobs wafts through the warm night air. I feel my stomach growl- aside from Emiko's snacks from the bus, I hadn't had a ton to eat today.

"I can grab us some food." I offer Lee.

"That sounds wonderful! Thank you, I will have some hot dogs." He flashes that smile again, and my knees go weak. I quickly trot away to the buffet table, heart pounding. As I fumble taking a styrofoam plate from the top of pile, my mind is racing. He's been to the ocean. He loves the forest after it rains. His favorite time of day is sunrise. Shit, I forgot to ask him what kind of chips he liked, or if he wanted any sides or dessert. Why was he making me so scatterbrained all of a sudden? And more importantly, why was I so happy about it?

I load some hot dogs, ketchup, barbecue potato chips and a few cookies on a plate for each of us, and head over to the bonfire to try and find him again. The sky has been coated in midnight blue ink and glitter- it was amazing how beautiful the stars were out in the mountains.

There he was, bathed in the red, gold, and purple light of the bonfire. He was sitting on a log, waiting for me. I bustle toward him, riding so high I don't notice a few chips falling to the grass.

And then it all comes to a screeching halt.

His attention was focused elsewhere. Very lovingly elsewhere. The rosette from the bus was sitting across from him, blatantly trying to ignore his advances. My heart freezes midair and drops, down, down, down into my toes, and then further. It buries itself in the grass under my sneakers.

I had forgotten.

He likes her. Sakura.

The bustle of the party goes on around me, turning into white noise as voices and laughter blur together. I don't know how long I've been standing here, staring. This was embarrassing.

I turn on my heel. Every step away from him is a lash on my back, reminding me who I was, what my situation was, and what my place was.

New girl.

New money.

Outsider.

Don't get ahead of yourself.

Don't get your hopes up.

I find Emiko talking to Kiba and Naruto, and hand her the extra plate. "Here, I brought you some food!"

My voice is bright and made of plastic, and my smile is painted on. This is a mask I've worn before, many times. Luckily she doesn't have a plate of food yet, so I don't sound like more of an idiot than I already proved myself to be.

I'm sure I participated in many conversations that night, but I don't remember any of them. None of it felt real. Iruka and Kakashi sung a song, and everyone booed them offstage playfully. There was a speech that I only caught syllables from. We might have bonded as a group. I never touched the plate of food I made.

It's way past lights out when we manage to slink back to our cabins, exhausted and smelling like campfire smoke. I manage to shower, brush my teeth, put up my hair, and change into pajamas while wearing my mask.

By then, Emiko had noticed it.

As I climb into bed, she says my name.

"Nana, come here."

I mechanically turn my head to look at her, and walk over to the bed. Emiko looks me in the face, and I can finally feel the mask splinter, and tears bud up between the cracks. God, I'm weak, and over one stupid boy I've known for a day.

"I saw. You got your hopes up again, didn't you?" She asks, and the mask shatters.

"What is wrong with me?" I ask weakly, as hot frustration streams down my face. "I should know better."

Emiko nods. "That's one of the things I love about you, Nana." She pats the sheets.

I climb into her bed and curl up, letting my tears drip on one of her pillows. It's warm from where she's been sitting. I can feel that warmth on my back as I drift to sleep.

I'm lucky too.