Chords of Love: Ballad to Various Loves

Chapter 7

"I tried to tell her she was imagining things but she somehow saw us…she says she won't tell anyone about it though. Can't say I'm too convinced" Gwen told Naruto, recounting her late night talk with Lindsay after the elimination ceremony.

"Lindsay is a sweet girl, every time we've talked she's been genuine and kind. She's also been very for us getting together since the dodgeball challenge" Naruto said, recalling their talk in the mess hall while he was getting ice for her.

"Yeah, she was the same with me back then as well...I still don't trust her" Gwen recalled with a bit of a frown, still not liking it due to Lindsay being so close to Heather, the one girl on this whole island she didn't trust one iota.

"You don't trust Heather, Lindsay on the other hand is harmless really. Give her a chance, she more so is just forced to go along with Heather's plots due to the stupid alliance Heather set up. You should have seen her face when Heather bragged about what she was going to do with your diary, she looks so ashamed and worried" Naruto said with a frown as that wasn't the look of someone who was all for what someone else was doing.

"Well we'll see how she does but if she betrays my trust she's done for…and speak of the devil" Gwen muttered, looking over to see Lindsay running their way while excitedly waving at them.

Naruto though tried not to stare or look too much as with Lindsay's….size, running made things….bounce.

"Hi guys! Oh wait, am I interrupting?" Lindsay asked, only now wondering if she was butting in before Naruto waved her off.

"We were actually talking about you and how you kind of found out about us" Naruto told her before Gwen sighed.

"Just sit down so we can talk" she groaned out, knowing that doing this might help things a bit. "Where is Heather by the way?" she asked while looking around for the 'queen bee' only for Lindsay to wave her off.

"She's taking her morning shower, they take a really long time so it's okay. What do you want to talk about? If it's about my new outfit I was deciding today to relax a bit" Lindsay prattled on a bit, giggling as she bounced excitedly beside Gwen at the picnic table they were chatting at, once again making things…bounce.

Naruto did actually notice her new outfit, more so that it seemed to be a red bikini top and a pair of blue short shorts along with her classic bandana and cowgirl boots.

"We don't want to talk about that. I'm more worried and want to know if you really plan to keep the fact that we are together from Heather" Gwen asked and immediately got to the point, not that Naruto blamed her given how Heather almost embarrassed her on television.

"I so won't tell a soul I promise, you two are just too cute together~!" Lindsay giggled out while happily clapping her hands as if overjoyed that they finally got together. "I am a bit sad I wasn't the one who got with him though" she added, her smile turning to a pout as she slumped onto the table and looked at him.

"Well you'll have to prove that I can trust you since Naruto already does for some reason" Gwen told her, getting Lindsay to nod while smiling happily at him that he trusted her.

"I'll do my best!" Lindsay said while she gained a serious look on her face before perking up as they all heard Heather yell out for her. "I guess that means I have to go…" she grumbled, a frown on her face before hurrying off.

"It'll be okay Gwen, she won't find out about us and even if she does we can handle her" Naruto did his best to reassure her, reaching over and taking her hand in his before giving it a soft squeeze.

"You mean you can handle her like you have so far" Gwen said with a smirk, giving his hand a squeeze back before she leaned over the table to kiss him.

"Yeah, she isn't too tricky for me, I've handled more conniving people than her in my sleep" he told her in between a few kisses, smiling as she chuckled a bit.

"Then I guess I'll leave it to you if she ever does find out about us. Until then I need to head back before people get suspicious of us being gone too long" Gwen told him, sighing a bit that they couldn't spend more time together.

"Okay, I'll head back in a bit after you. We can try to get some time alone tonight if we can" he suggested, Gwen smiling and nodding.

"All depends on what Chris has in mind but that sounds great" she said while hoping there wasn't any challenge today but then again the whole 'three days between challenges' thing seemed to not really be a thing all too much recently.

As she walked away Naruto slumped over onto the table with a sigh. 'Having a girlfriend on another team and having to hide it is not how I expected things to be…though then again with Heather I guess we have to' he thought with another sigh, finding the 'queen bee' to be a good deal troublesome.

He doubted any of the others would really raise a stink or think anything of it given how much of a team player he is but still, he wasn't fully sure of how good Heather could whisper in people's ears so for now hiding things was best.

"Hey, you okay man?" Duncan asked while he patted him on the back before plopping down beside him.

"Yeah…just annoyed I have to hide things with Gwen all because of one stupid girl" Naruto grumbled, not worrying about hiding it from Duncan since the punk had also told Naruto that he had seen them making out.

Hiding that Duncan knew from Gwen wasn't malicious in nature, just more trying to make her feel better since she was upset that they were found out by Lindsay so quick after getting together. He didn't want to see her get more down about the fact that Duncan saw them before they even officially got together.

"Plus who knows how the other girls might react" Duncan pointed out, sighing as Naruto looked at him confused.

"What about the other girls?" Naruto asked which only made Duncan cover his face with his hand and groan.

"Nevermind…" Duncan groaned out as he had to remember that Naruto apparently didn't notice how Eva, Courtney, and Bridgette were into him, let alone Lindsay, Izzy, and Leshawna from the other team.

He legit did not know how the man was able to draw in so many girls naturally while not coming off as or even acting like the playboy type. Not that Duncan really minded since the girls here weren't really his types, all a bit too preppy with Gwen being more a 'common soul' he could see complaining about stuff when hanging around each other, nothing romantic.

"We should be getting back, I made sure to have Geoff save us some breakfast" Duncan told him, getting Naruto to stand up and nod a bit.

"Yeah, might as well…groaning and complaining won't do shit for me" he admitting before Duncan patted him hard on the back.

"That's the spirit" the punk joked while Naruto merely rolled his eyes with a smirk.

Breakfast went by fine, the both of them made sure not to take too many peaks at each other or to be too obvious, both of which they felt they did a good job at.

After breakfast though, as Chris called them out to the beach, it was clear that Chris was choosing to forgo the break in between challenges again.

"Bass! Gophers! Today's challenge is a true summer camp experience, a canoe trip" Chris announced, motioning to the canoes behind, three of which were green while four were red. "You'll be paddling your canoes across the lake to Boney Island~!" he tried to say with a spooky tone that just fell flat a bit. "When you get there you must portage your canoes to the other side of the island which is a two hour hike through treacherous dense jungle" he explained before Geoff raised his hand.

"Wait we've got to pour what?" Geoff asked, getting some face palms and groans from all around.

"Portage!" Chris said again, sighing as Geoff's dense look being something he expected from Lindsay. "Dude…walk your canoe" he spelled it out before Geoff nodded having finally understood what it meant.

"When you arrive at the other end of the island you'll build a rescue fire that'll be judged by me. The first team to paddle home and return their canoes to the beach is the winner of invincibility now move campers, move!" Chris yelled, instantly starting the challenge getting the teens to run past him.

"Oh wait!" Chris yelled out to them, quickly getting them to stop in their tracks. "One more thing I should mention. Legend has it that if you take anything off the island you'll be cursed forever~" Chris told them, once again trying to sound spooky but this time thunder boomed above them despite there being no clouds in the sky.

"Well…that's ominous…" Naruto muttered, unsure how Chris pulled that off while everyone nodded around him.

"Now get your canoes and lets have some fun" Chris quickly added with a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood that he darkened while finding them uncertainty while walking to the canoes to be a bit funny.

"What'd I miss!?" Beth yelled as she ran out from the bathroom after being unable to hold it in after breakfast.

"Canoes" Chris simply told her, not wanting to go through everything again and leaving it up to her team to fill her in before Beth ran off after her team.

-Confession Cam-

-Cody-

"Chris told us to pick a paddle partner and that was the perfect opportunity to make my move~. If I could just get Gwen alone for five minutes I knew I could woo her over with my manly charm, especially with Trent no longer being here~" Cody said with a smirk, leaning back in the confession cam with his hands behind his head.

-Cam End-

"Come on Gwen! You, me, open water~. What do you say?" Cody asked Gwen, draping an arm over her shoulder with a smirk before yowling in pain she grabbed him by the back of his neck and pulled his arm straight back behind him.

"Three things Cody: one, don't touch me, two, don't touch me, and three, - don't touch you?" Gwen started to list off before Cody finished her sentence for her, getting her to tug his arm a bit more before shoving him away.

"Now show you can listen if you can sense the pattern" Gwen growled out before she walked over Lindsay who excitedly waved her over. "Guess I'll partner up with you" she told the blonde given Beth and Heather as well as Izzy and Leshawna paired up, leaving Cody to decide between the two other groups before getting pulled along by Beth.

"It'll be so fun!" Lindsay excitedly cheered out before hugging the reluctant Gwen who just accepted the hug since at least it was better than Cody.

"So who is teaming up with who? We have four canoes with ten of us so I'm thinking two groups of three and two of two?" Naruto suggested after chuckling a bit at how Gwen and Lindsay were together.

"Sounds good to me. I think we need to divide the muscle so Eva, Naruto, and DJ need to be separate, maybe Duncan as well" Courtney added on while Duncan chuckled.

"Glad I'm being included along with the muscles but I got my two helpers already picked" Duncan told her with a smirk as he quickly draped his arms over Harold and Katie.

"I'll take Geoff and Tyler if that's okay" DJ chimed in next before Eva and Naruto looked at Courtney and Bridgette.

"So who's going with who? I don't mind either way" Eva said, looking from one girl to the other before Courtney and Bridgette looked to themselves and shrugged.

"I'll go with Eva since either is fine with me" Courtney said before Bridgette smiled at Naruto.

"I guess that leaves me with you" she said, a bounce in her step as she walked over to him.

"Indeed it does" he told her before tossing her a life jacket with a smirk as everyone started to get ready.

"Yo man do canoes flip over a lot?" DJ asked nervously, tapping his canoe gently with his foot to test if it seemed stable.

"Naw, you're thinking kayaks…well unless we hit some rough water" Geoff explained, missing DJ's sigh of relief that quickly disappeared.

"Wait water can get rough?" DJ asked in shock, his voice cracking a bit with Geoff nodded.

"Yeah sometimes we can get totally radical out there" Geoff said before Naruto shook his head.

"The weather is clear and we are on a lake. Only thing that make the water rough is wind and today is cleat so don't worry man" Naruto assured the large teen, hopefully easing his worries since he could see him starting to freak out a bit.

-Confession Cam-

-DJ-

"When I was eight my brothers dared me to jump off the high dive platform at the pool. I was sacred but I jumped, wasn't going to let them call me chicken. I landed on my butt…sounds better than a belly flop right? Wrong" DJ told them with a shiver. "My trunks went so far up my butt I had to go to the hospital to get them removed…they invented a new word for what I did wedgie flop" he added with a cringe.

"I've been afraid of water ever since…it's also why I didn't jump on our first day here" he explained with a sigh.

-Cam End-

"Just stay sitting down and you'll be fine" Naruto called over to DJ, seeing him wobble a bit before the gentle giant nodded and stayed seated, gripping his oar for dear life.

"On your marks! Get set! Paddle!" Chris yelled, shooting a pistol into the air to start them off only to frown as an eagle dropped to the ground from the sky. "That's going to provoke a lot of angry emails….maybe I should stick to a racing pistol" Chris muttered, already feeling the headache that was going to be caused by this.

"So are you two going to try and have a date here or are you going to wait until after the show?" Lindsay asked with a giggle, getting Gwen to look back at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not sure? I guess it's up to him" Gwen said, accepting the fact that Lindsay would bother her and figuring that instead of fighting it she'd just answer her questions, though it all depended on what she planned to ask.

"Oh I'm so certain he would if you dropped some subtle hints. He so seems the romantic and caring type don't you think~" Lindsay dreamily sighed while she looked over in his direction.

Gwen frowned a bit as she also looked his way, her frown turning to a smile as he looked her way out of the corner of his eye with a smile of his own. While she didn't want to get her hopes up she did feel he could be that kind of guy but again, she didn't want to get her hopes up. Mainly due to them having to hide it and unsure how they'd be able to do that.

"Oh I so hope you guys are able to. It would be so romantic" Lindsay said excitedly while Gwen rolled her eyes, hoping she wouldn't have to put up with this too much.

"So you ever go canoeing before?" Naruto asked Bridgette while they paddled along, wondering if surfing was her main thing or if she had done other water based activities.

"I've got river rafting with my dad once or twice but never canoeing so this is pretty fun. What about you?" Bridgette asked since she was curious what the rocker had done before.

"I'm mainly the hiking kind, I like mountain climbing as well. I'm okay with water but never gone canoeing or rafting, I'm more someone who likes swimming and relaxing at the beach" he told her, getting her to smile a bit.

"So have you ever gone surfing? Cause I can definitely see you rocking a surfboard" Bridgette said with a smile, Naruto rubbing his chin in thought.

"I've done some surfing lessons but never really fully got into it, I guess if I had the right person showing me how to do it and some nice waves I could see myself enjoying it" he admitted, getting Bridgette to perk up a bit.

"Oh I definitely could show you plus I know the perfect beach that is hidden away and it has the best waves, t-that is if you want to. I wouldn't be surprised if after this you just ignore everyone, I feel that's the group consensus regarding some people" Bridgette, feeling a bit embarrassed for expecting or thinking he'd be okay with hanging out with any of them after the show.

"Oh don't be like that Bridgette, personally I like a good number of people here. Everyone on my team is pretty cool and there are some cool people on the other team. If all goes well I can definitely see us hanging out after the show so you better be ready to show me how to surf" he told her, looking back at her with a smirk and a wink which got her to giggle a bit.

"Sounds perfect dude, I'll let you use one of my spare boards" Bridgette said once again surprised by how down to earth and nice her teammate was. She honestly had to admit he definitely was a major reason to why she didn't hate being here yet.

She just hoped he stayed as potent later on in the show.

"Whoa watch out guys, fog is rolling in" Courtney told them, her and Eva's canoe being in front of the pack alongside his and Bridgette's.

"Well at least Boney Island is a fitting name" Eva muttered as they all noticed a massive skull in the mountain in front of them once they arrived on shore.

"Okay if there is a giant ape here I'm booking it" Naruto said while he helped Bridgette step out of the canoe and pull it in a bit.

"You think this place is haunted?" Izzy asked, surprising Naruto by hugging him from behind, her head on his shoulder only for everyone to pause while they heard odd noises coming from within the forest.

"Get off him and help us Izzy!" Leshawna growled out, pulling Izzy off his back and back towards her team.

"Everyone come on, the sooner we get through this the better" Gwen said, wanting to get the attention away from Naruto while everyone nodded and started to pick up their canoes.

As they started to run through the forest everyone wasn't sure if the skulls on spikes were real or some props that Chris had set up, honestly both seemed like real options. Everyone stopped in their tracks though as a massive tree crashed between the two teams, separating them from one another.

-Gophers-

"Guys…I think I saw something move" Cody whispered as they heard rustling all around them, everyone looking around before they noticed eyes staring out at them.

It wasn't long before they saw what those eyes belonged to, revealing themselves to be a cross between a bear and a beaver.

"Monster beavers!" Cody screamed before everyone ran off away from them.

-Confession Cam-

-Chris-

"A remnant of the Pleistocene era the wooly beaver is a day active rodent indigenous to Boney Island. Oh yeah, and they're meat eaters!" Chris explained to the audience with a smirk, winking at the end

-Cam End-

The Gophers kept running and screaming as the beavers chased them, the beasts hot on their trail before they had to come to a screeching stop.

"Dead end…oh crap" Leshawna cursed, looking behind them only to raise an eyebrow as the beavers seemed to be retreating. "Wait, they're leaving? Why?" she asked since normally monster animals like this would love cornered prey.

"Oh! I saw this in a nature documentary once! If they are backing away its probably due to some other creature claiming this area nearby!" Izzy told them while she quickly started looking around. "Could explain the huge nests" she giggled out, everyone staring wide eyed at the nests and quickly decided whatever could make nests that big was not something they wanted to meet.

Though luck did not seem on their side as massive fanged geese rose up from the nests and roared at them, once again causing them to run off away from the new creatures chasing them.

"Someone do something!" Gwen yelled as the birds, if they could be called that, flew after them.

"Oh wait! Look!" Cody said before he pulled a loaf of bread from his pants.

"Where did that come from?" Gwen asked, almost afraid to ask given it was Cody.

"I was going to make us a romantic picnic" he confessed with a bit of a blush.

"With bread from your pants!?" Gwen yelled a bit grossed out and unsure how to fully take it.

"Just throw it!" Leshawna yelled out, wanting creatures to stop chasing her, before Cody threw it over his shoulder and successfully distracted the birds.

"It worked!" Heather said in shock with a smile, glad to have a moment to breathe.

"Come on, the race isn't over yet! We still have to burn stuff~" Izzy purred out, clearly excited to burn things while Leshawna rolled her eyes at being forced to stick along with the crazy girl.

-Bass – When they first got separated-

Naruto didn't have any time to worry about the Gophers since a group of those monster beavers also ended up chasing them. "Just keep running! If we can escape it's hunting grounds they should stop!" Eva told them while they ran, though they didn't need much of an excuse to run given that's what they had planned to do from the start.

"Oh my god they look like something that was around after the dinosaurs went extinct!" Katie yelled in fear as she kept running, refusing to turn around or look anywhere except at Duncan's back to keep herself from freaking out even more.

"Just keep running Katie, it'll be okay" Geoff reassured her, taking a quick look back and let a sigh of relief as Eva was right. "They actually are stopping! They're going back into the forest!" Geoff cheered while they stopped at a fork in the road.

"Thank god, I was worried they were going to eat us man!" Tyler said, shivering a bit before Naruto looked back at Bridgette.

"You good back there? In fact is everyone okay?" Naruto asked before Bridgette and everyone else nodded. "Good, now which way are we going to go?" he asked, motioning to the two pathways.

"Left, definitely left" Courtney suggested before Geoff shook his head.

"I don't know, the one on the right looks wider and we need the extra space with more people dude" he told her before Eva nodded.

"He's right, the right path is going to be better for us so lets go before the other team catches up" Eva agreed before starting down the right path, the others following her just as the Gophers were starting to catch up.

"I see the other team, they're taking the path on the right" Leshawna pointed out, seeing them a good bit ahead of them.

"Then we'll take the one on the left! Better than being stuck behind them!" Heather told them, getting her team to head down the left path.

-Gophers-

The left path seemed calm as they walked through it, having to go single file due to it not being as wide as the other path but it was better than being stuck behind the others.

"Um guys…I don't mean to panic but think I'm sinking into the ground!" Leshawna yelled out in shock as one second she was just walking forward and now all of a sudden her feet had been swallowed up in the sand.

-Confession Cam-

-Leshawna-

"How the hell was I supposed to know there was quicksand here or even know what the damn stuff looks like!? That is something you see in places like the rainforest! Not in Canada!" Leshawna yelled, still frustrated that it had happened to her like that.

But then again if there were crazy monstrous beavers and geese why the hell wouldn't there be something just as odd out there like quicksand.

-Chris-

"Can you believe they fell for that!?" Chris asked, laughing in the confessional. "I set it up, but I didn't think anyone would walk into it! That's just great!" he continued laughing in between words and holding his stomach as if it hurt from laughing.

-Cam End-

"Oh wow! I so didn't see that coming" Izzy giggled out before she started to climb a tree, ripping off a vine and hopping down. "Here hold onto this! Like wrap it around your arm or something" she suggested while Leshawna sank, the girl doing as Izzy said not having time to do anything but slightly freak out due to how she was now halfway swallowed up by the sand.

"Everyone help pull Leshawna out!" Gwen rallied them, everyone putting down their canoes and grabbing onto the vine.

"Ready and pull!" Izzy leaded with them all pulling on her mark. It was tough to pull her out, the sand almost refusing to let her go, but with enough tugging and Leshawna holding onto the vine for dear life they were able to get her out.

"Woo! Wasn't that awesome! We saved you!" Izzy cheered though the look on Leshawna's face made her stop.

"Very touching but we have a challenge to win and can't be held back" Heather told them with a glare, having Beth and Cody pick back up their canoe before she motioned for them to follow and walk around the pool of quicksand.

-Bass-

Everything seemed to be going good for them, the right path seeming to be peaceful with nothing odd in it. To Naruto it seemed that they'd reach the other side in no time….that was until Geoff fell over.

"Ah my leg! I'm down! I'm down!" Geoff yelled as he raised his leg up in the air as if it was injured despite there being no clear sign as to how. "Oh its so unfair! Why'd this have to happen now! Why! Why!" he yelled, holding his leg in pain while everyone rushed to him except for Courtney, Eva, Duncan, and Naruto who all just stared blankly at him. (*1)

"Okay what is wrong? You break something?" Eva asked, walking over to him after she and Courtney set down their canoe.

"The pain! I can't tell! It hurts too much!" Geoff cried out, groaning and writhing in pain while Naruto and Courtney frowned as they could see Eva struggling to stay calm, seemingly angered by Geoff's melodrama.

"Were you bit by something?" she asked only for Geoff to keep groaning and crying out in pain. "Oh shut up!" Eva yelled suddenly, having more than enough of this before she slapped his leg with a fierce glare which got him to stop. "If you have energy to cry out and overact then you're fine! Get up and keep moving!" she ordered out with Geoff having gone pale and quiet as he nodded before she started to walk away only to stop midway and look down at her hand.

"Oh and your pain was the smallest splinter I've ever seen!" Eva yelled back at him, having seemingly got it to stick into her when she slapped his leg only for her to pluck it out like it was nothing.

Geoff looked a bit embarrassed while everyone who was worried about him walked away and rolled their eyes. No one really chided him after Eva given she had said what everyone else would have said, instead just letting him silently get back up and continue with the challenge.

-Confession Cam-

-Naruto-

"Sometimes some brashness works and with Eva's ferocity it turned out to be exactly what we needed to get back on track. If she hadn't done that I was going to…although with less yelling" he said with a chuckle since he wasn't the yelling type, more the cold icy anger kind.

-Eva-

"I've been doing pretty good with my anger with the thanks of Courtney and Naruto but that…was too much" Eva admitted while pinching the bridge of his nose. "Acting like you were badly injured and in so much pain while whining…only for it to turn out to be a splinter, if you can call it that, is just ridiculous" she added, crossing her arms with a grumble showing she still found it annoying.

-Cam End-

"Great, the Gophers are already here" Courtney grumbled out once they arrived on the beach, wasting no time in dropping the canoes and everyone knowing they had to rush to get a fire started – something that the Gophers were having trouble with.

Though just like during the challenge where they had to stay a night in the woods, they had a secret weapon, prompting Duncan to step in.

Heather stared in shock once she noticed the Bass' fire, the time they had here ahead of them disappearing instantly while Courtney worked to make the fire grow. "How did they do that so quickly!?" Heather asked before Duncan pulled out his lighter and lit it in front of her.

"No rules against carrying lighters! Edge, Killer Bass!" Chris announced from the helicopter he was hovering above them in, getting Heather to growl and glare their way.

"Just ignore her, focus on making the fire bigger" Courtney told her team, everyone nodding and splitting off to gather more and more firewood while the Gophers did the same despite not having a fire going just yet.

Beth silently gasped with a smile, dropping her firewood as she saw the cutest little tiki doll behind the bushes. "Aren't you just the cutest little thing! This has to be good luck, I just know it!" Beth said excitedly, thinking she had found a 'mystic good luck charm' on this spooky island with no knowledge of Boney Island's curse.

"I don't think this is going to be big enough" Courtney said with a frown, standing in front of their decently large fire with the nagging feeling it still wasn't enough.

"You're right, doesn't seem much of a rescue fire but more just a small bonfire" Naruto agreed before DJ clapped his hands.

"You heard the woman! We need more wood guys! Lets go" DJ rallied the team, getting some of them to walk off with him.

Everyone watched in shock and just pure 'what the fuck' as Harold ran around like a chicken with his head cut off, snatching up all the oars before tossing them in the fire.

"What the hell was that!?" Naruto yelled in shock before Eva grabbed Harold by the collar of his shirt.

"How the hell are we supposed to get home now!?" she growled out, glaring furiously at Harold to the point the teen peed himself which only got her to sneer in disgust and toss him back. (*2)

"Easy, easy. I know we are all beyond angry at him but getting violent or angry won't solve anything" Courtney quickly said to Eva, gently grabbing her wrist before Naruto put a hand on her shoulder.

"She's right and I think I have a way for use to still get back home" he told her before looking around and smiling once he noticed something. "Guys start collecting some vines for me will you? Really long ones and take the Junior Oarsman with you" he said, motioning to Harold with a nod of his head. (*3)

"Come on you junior vandal, you're going to be the one climbing trees" Duncan told the scrawny teen while Harold merely accepted it for his terrible blunder.

Back with the Gophers Izzy smiled as she bounced back towards their rescue fire. "This so ought to do the trick," she started, tossing what looked to be a huge ball of sap in her hands "it's a handmade Firestarter that I made from some tree sap and other things here and there. This is going to be big~" she warned them, getting every to take several steps back away from her and the fire.

The second it landed in the fire even the Bass on the other side of the beach had to shield their eyes from the brightness of the column of fire that burst up from the explosion. It went up so high that even Chris in his helicopter had to quickly fly back to avoid being caught in it.

"We have our fire building winner! Point for the Gophers!" Chris announced, absolutely loving the dramatics of the explosion and the intensity of it.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Heather asked in shocked awe, looking over to a soot covered Izzy who had been blown backwards from the force of the explosion but otherwise seemed okay.

"Oh you know, I spend a summer training with the reserves. Kind of got into some trouble there and like blew up their kitchen by accident which is why the RCMP is like still all over my butt! I am so totally AWOL!" Izzy excitedly told them, getting Heather to somewhat scooch away from her.

"Okay we got the vines and totally saw that massive explosion…I am so going to have to get Izzy to teach me how to make that" Duncan said with a giddy smile while Naruto rolled his eyes and took the vines from him, Harold, and Katie.

"Learn when we get back pyro, for now we are going to have to tie the canoes together and get some people to push the boats with everyone inside. It's the only way" Naruto told them, tossing a few vines to Eva, DJ, and Geoff.

"I can do it, shouldn't be that hard" Eva said as she begun stretching her legs a bit which got everyone to smile a bit at given they all knew Eva's strength.

"Do you want any help?" Naruto offered, Eva about to dismiss him but stopped herself, realizing this could be a nice 'moment' for them.

"Sure thing, think you can keep up?" she teased, getting Naruto to chuckle before cracking his neck.

"I know I can" he told her while the others pushed the four canoes into the water.

"We were very careful about making sure there is sitting room for everyone while also ensuring that they'd stay together. If you both think you can do this we're going to hop in and leave it up to you" Courtney said, trying not to worry too much about the Gophers already paddling off into the water.

"We'll be fine, just make sure everyone has their lifejackets on and holds on" Eva said with a smirk before Courtney nodded and gave a thumbs up for everyone to quickly get into the canoes.

Everyone watched, hoping this would be enough, as Naruto and Eva got into the water and grabbed onto the back of the canoes. A simple nod was all that was needed between the two before they started kicking.

It didn't take long for them to really pick up speed with the two of them working together, easily blazing past the shocked Gophers and arriving back at camp. Though, with their inability to brake they kind of crashed on shore.

"The Bass are the winners!" Chris declared as the Bass cheered despite them being sprawled all over the beach due to their crash.

"We had speed, braking wasn't something we planned on" Naruto joked, raising up a fist with a woo while his team laughed a bit before Courtney walked over to offer him a hand up.

"You and Eva seriously saved our bacons with pushing us like that. Otherwise we would've lost and someone would have gone home" she said, looking towards Harold who had the decency to look embarrassed while pulling him up.

"Yeah but in the end we survived so no need to bring it up anymore" Naruto told her, getting her to nod before the Gophers arrived on shore.

Heather was silent as she stomped off and back into camp, everyone wondered what she was doing before a loud scream of frustration roared out showing just how upset Heather really was.

-Bonfire Ceremony-

Naruto felt a bit odd as the Bass sat at the side to watch the Gopher's campfire ceremony, unsure why Chris asked them to but overall he didn't mind too much since it would be instant reassurance bout whether or not Gwen got voted off.

Especially from what he heard from various Gophers no one really had any clear person to vote off.

"And now the always anxiety-inducing marshmallow ceremony" Chris started out while spinning a plate of marshmallows on top of his finger. "When I call your name come and get a marshmallow" he told them as always before clearing his throat.

One by one they watched as he called out named until Leshawna and Cody were the final two left.

"The final marshmallow. Whoever doesn't get this marshmallow will walk off the dock of shame and take a ride on the boat of losers. Who's it going to be~" Chris sang out to rise the drama before the sound of helicopter started to grow louder and louder until it arrived right above them.

"Izzy! We know you are down there! You are under arrest!" the pilot declared over the megaphone attached to the helicopter.

"You'll never get me alive!" she yelled and glared up at the copter before pausing. "But first~!" she quickly sang out before running towards the Bass members.

With how Izzy was no one had any idea what she was planning, everyone just staring in shock as Izzy suddenly plopped herself down on Naruto's lap, straddling it before grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and pulling him in for a kiss.

Naruto was froze, barely registering it before she pulled away with a smirk and a wink. "I'll give you something better when I find my way back~" she purred out before she backflipped off his lap and pointed up at the helicopter.

"Now you really won't get me alive!" she yelled again, throwing down something and creating a massive cloud of smoke that she used to slip away from the spotlight unnoticed.

"Well….that was….something?" Chris said after a bit of silence and the chopper flying away, showing just how affected even he had been from it all.

"Wait! So Izzy got voted off despite us wanting to keep her? How is that fair!?" Heather yelled, her being more affected by this then the whole helicopter and making out. Izzy had actually been useful this challenge by giving them the point for her crazy fire bomb

"Really? Way to kill the drama" Chris said with a roll of his eyes. "But this does raise a point I've been wanting to make due to your ungodly losing streak" Chris laughed out a bit, finding it to be hilarious although a bit crappy for the show.

"Gophers have six now while Bass have ten so as of right now I am evening the numbers by moving two Bass at random over to Gophers" he said, dropping a bomb on them while the Bass yelled trying to stop him as he closed his eyes and started to move his arm from side to side.

"Katie and….Tyler! Congrats, you are now Screaming Gophers!" he revealed before plopping the last marshmallow into his own mouth. "The ceremony is adjourned, night everybody~!" he added with a laugh before walking away.

"Uh Naruto? You alive?" Duncan asked, snapping his fingers in front of his friend's face to snap him out of it, the blonde shaking his head and rubbing it a bit as if he just got hit.

"That was….did that really happen?" Naruto asked while his face heated up, remembering Izzy's soft yet passionate kiss and the fact she slipped in her tongue a bit.

"Yeah, it definitely did" Eva growled out before Naruto swearing he heard her quietly mutter about wringing, orange haired, and stealing as the girl stomped off.

"So, how was it? Izzy's pretty wild so I'm guessing it was intense?" Geoff asked with a smirk before a glare from Bridgette and Courtney made him quickly step back. "Uhhh….nevermind?" he said, quickly trying to placate them a bit before DJ quickly guided him away from the ladies.

"I uh, I'm going to go…I don't know…" Naruto said clearly in a confused daze which the others understood as that literally came out of nowhere.

On the Gopher's side Lindsay had to stir Gwen out of her own frozen shock, getting the goth girl to look around as if to try and remember where she was. "Gwen! Naruto walked off! You need to go after him!" Lindsay whispered in her ear since even if Heather was gone she knew she still had to keep it a secret from everyone else.

"R-Right! Which way did he go?" Gwen asked, thankful that Lindsay was actually there to help her out like this.

"That way! He just left" Lindsay directed her before Gwen speed walked in that direction. Lindsay frowned a bit, worrying if they'd be okay before a hand patted her on the shoulder.

"They'll be fine, its not like he kissed Izzy back. If anything this'll help him realize other girls like him and get her to come to terms with it as well" Duncan told her, getting Lindsay to get nervous.

"I-I so don't know what you are talking about" Lindsay said in an attempt to cover for them before Duncan chuckled.

"Relax, I know about them. Found them making out during the Phobia challenge right after she was dug up. He wanted to keep me knowing a secret so Gwen wouldn't feel like they were already failing at keeping it a secret" he explained which got the girl to visibly relax.

"Oh! You so had me worried!" she said with a bit of a relieved giggle. "But yeah, hopefully everything is okay with them" Lindsay muttered before Duncan shrugged his shoulders.

"Have to wait until they come back to the cabins" he said since there was really nothing they could do other than wait.

"Naruto! Wait up!" Gwen yelled out to him, getting Naruto to stop and turn to her with widened eyes.

"Crap! Sorry, I know I probably should have waited for you after all this" he quickly apologized since after everything it makes perfect sense that she'd want to talk with him.

"It's okay, I was just as shocked as you were" she assured him before she sat down on top of a picnic table and patted the spot next to her to invite him to sit beside her. "I needed Lindsay to snap me out of it…I mean I knew Izzy had the hots for you but knowing and seeing her act are two entirely different things" she said with a dry tone.

"I guess that was a wakeup call?" he said a bit unsure before turning to her with confusion clear on his face. "Do I need to be more careful how I act around girls?" he asked since the last thing he wanted was to be misleading or lead people on.

"No you really don't. You don't lead girls on or unknowingly hit on them" she said with a sigh before smiling softly with a bit of a chuckle. "You are naturally kind and sweet so it makes sense that girls can't help but fall for you" she told him which caused him to gently grab and squeeze her hand.

"Should we tell the others about us? You know, so it doesn't seem like false hope?" he said, still a bit unsure if he was wording it right before Gwen shook her head.

"We have to wait a bit but if someone does confess to you I'll help explain things…it's all we can really do right now" Gwen suggested before kissing his cheek and smirking a bit.

"So how was it?" she asked, getting him to look over at her with a dark blush.

"It was…intense and no, I didn't kiss back" he replied before quickly making that point clear.

"Trust me I know you didn't" she told him, smiling as she dared to be a little bold and straddled his lap. "But I do want to get that kiss off your mind" she said with a bit of a pout before she leaned forward to kiss him.

Naruto kept his hands on her waist, her hands cupping his face, as they started to make out. They really hadn't had time to make out much given they basically just got together yesterday but if their future make out sessions were anywhere like this then they both could agree they'd try for more.

Gwen found it a bit intoxicating, his kisses and tongue making her a bit giddy while she did her best to 'fight back' against him. She didn't have much experience with making out, having only done it like once or twice before their first make out but she didn't feel she had to worry about it too much.

"O-Okay, I-I think that is enough for now" Naruto said, panting a bit as he rubbed her sides.

"Why is that?" Gwen asked before darkly blushing as she felt something poking her in the butt, unable to stop herself from giggling a bit. "Oh, well, I'm glad I can get a reaction I guess" she smiled at him a bit, giving him a soft kiss before she got up.

"Sorry" he apologized while she fixed her skirt, getting another giggle from her.

"Don't be, it's natural and makes me proud" she told him with a wink. "I'm going to head back to my cabin, we should do this again sometime" she added before he nodded.

"Definitely, I guess I'll see you tomorrow" he said, staying sitting down as she nodded and walked off with a fluttering of her fingers as a wave and a clear bit of a sway to her hips.

He could only chuckle a bit as he laid back on the picnic table, smiling as despite the mess things turned out really good in the end.

Gwen was all smiles as she headed back to her cabin, noticing Lindsay waiting for her outside. "So how did it go?" Lindsay asked her, clearly worried if things were okay.

"It went really well" Gwen said with a bit of a dreamy tone to her voice before she sat down beside Lindsay on the front steps.

"Oh yay! I'm so glad!" Lindsay cheered quietly, knowing to be quiet thankfully.

"Yeah we just talked about how we'll have to deal with the others and turn them down if and when they confess to him in time. It'll be hard given how many of them there are" Gwen said, her tone quickly turning a bit dry as she flatly looked at Lindsay since she also obviously had a thing for him.

"But why would he turn them down?" Lindsay asked, tilting her head to the side a bit which only got a sigh from Gwen.

"You can't be serious...boyfriend and girlfriends are one on one type thing, you have to know that much" Gwen told her with a tired look.

"But Naruto is so sweet and kind, why not share love? He so seems like the kind of guy to be sweet and loving to everyone the same" Lindsay said, frowning as she looked over at Gwen. "He is nice to everyone, he helps everyone and looks out for them. I'm certain he'd have enough love for everyone" she continued before Gwen stood up.

"Stop it Lindsay, this is beyond ridiculous. Honestly" Gwen said, starting to walk off before Lindsay stood up.

"He's the only guy who doesn't leer at me!" Lindsay yelled, getting Gwen to stop and look back at her, frowning as she saw what looked like the beginnings of tears in her eyes. "So many guys, when they talk to me look only at these," she continued while motioning to her breasts "Naruto doesn't. Even today he went out of his way to not look and always looks me in the eyes. And he doesn't treat me like I'm dumb!…I mean I know I'm not super smart and I struggle with names at times but he doesn't seem to mind and just corrects me at the end with a smile. He is nice and sweet and really unlike any guy I've ever met….I just…wanted to maybe find a chance" Lindsay told her before quickly walking past her, slamming the cabin door closed behind her with muffled crying being heard soon after.

Gwen winced at Lindsay's crying, groaning as this so wasn't how things were supposed to be.

It wasn't like she didn't know Naruto had effected people around him, hell she and everyone knew how he helped dial down Eva's anger and Courtney's control freak aspects. Though one thing she didn't know, and had just learned, was that he also had deeper effects in several ways.

'I guess Eva must feel the same way given he treats her like a girl and all….god I must be insane to even think twice about this' Gwen thought as she buried her face in her hands and let out a loud groan into her hands.

"Gwen? What was that all about?" Courtney asked, poking her head out of the Bass cabin next door.

"How much did you hear?" Gwen grumbled and silently hoped she didn't hear much for the sake of everything. She so did not want to explain everything or have anyone else find out about them.

"I don't know, I just heard yelling as it was muffled through the wall and door. Is everything okay?" she worried before Gwen shook her head.

"Just a bit of a…teammate disagreement that I have to think about…as much as I don't want to" Gwen told her with a tired look that made it clear she didn't want to go into it.

"Well…I hope it gets resolved, I've never heard Lindsay be anything other than happy" Courtney said, getting Gwen to nod and sigh.

"Yeah…I know" she agreed before Courtney left her alone again.

'Yup….I'm definitely insane' she thought, cementing this wasn't something she could brush off as quickly as she first thought.

-Chapter End-

*1 = Yeah no, I'm not doing the melodramatics of everyone going along with Geoff's 'injury'….that is just another stupid thing from the show akin to Cody's homing dodgeball throw that I refuse to do. Plus with someone like Eva around I highly, highly doubt that she'd let that all go on and not call him out to stop it

*2 = Not trying to bash the dude, just figured an utterly furious Eva would be more fearsome than a bear and give Harold a similar reaction that Cody did when faced with a bear lol

*3 = I know the curse said nothing off Boney Island and vines could count technically but I don't see plants and foliage counting with the curse, only actual items like the tiki. Otherwise you could get cursed by bringing a rock that got stuck in your shoe or sand that also got inside your shoe.

Pretty simple episode honestly but also with BIG effects in the end. First thing you probably noticed near the end is that there was no 'clear elimination' like there normally is. This time Izzy didn't give the 'flutter kick' suggestion that got her voted off which instead left it to Cody and Leshawna (for no other reason than I had no idea who to narrow it down to in the end before Izzy ran off)

And on the topic of Izzy her kiss is a major 'shove' in the direction of the harem alongside Lindsay's surprisingly deep and emotional moment with Gwen. Now Lindsay might be ditzy but I feel even she notices things like some people treating her like an idiot throughout her life or people staring and leering at her so she'd notice when someone doesn't act like that towards her even more so. Plus seeing a pure and sweet girl like Lindsay tear up and cry would have effects on anyone, Gwen included so consider Izzy/Lindsay being the ones to get the ball rolling towards the harem.

I am going to do my damnedest to make it feel realistic and not just "Oh you like him too?! Why not harem~ Oh and lets fuck him right away~!" set up that I've seen soooooooooo damn much. I want some realism in things otherwise it's a headache to read and write. I'll also be using the term 'group relationship' instead of harem as no way teens in Canada would call the situation and openly refer to it as a harem, feels way too odd

Yeah at the end I decided to have Chris decide to move two Bass members over to Gophers as he decided if he didn't the Gophers would be gone before the teams are dissolved.

I chose Katie and Tyler because none really mess with anything on the Bass side as opposed to people like Harold and Geoff who I feel are much more important to stay on Bass for various reasons

Killer Bass:

Bridgette, Courtney, DJ, Duncan, Eva, Geoff, Harold, Naruto

Screaming Gophers:

Beth, Cody, Gwen, Heather, Leshawna, Lindsay – (Transferred from Bass) Katie, Tyler

Eliminated:

Ezekiel, Owen, Noah, Justin, Sadie, Trent, Izzy

Til the Next Time

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See Ya!