The hell I got myself into?

by Just a reader 56

Naruto moved to Canada with his parents four years ago having a normal life, you know, boring school, hanging out with friends, that kind of stuff, but one day, some of his classmates talk about this show that no one knows of, he had no idea on what to do until someone dared him to participate. How hard can it be? It is only spending 2 months in a resort. How foolish he was.

9. TDI A Canoe Trip

WARNING: English isn't my first language, but I'm going to do my best to write as grammatically correct as possible.

Well, here's my latest chapter I'm trying to reduce my times but I guess some things are harder than expected, but well, enough chit chat, I hope you enjoy it.

"Speaking" character speaking

'[Language] Speaking' character speaking in another language

'Speaking' character thinking

~Speaking~ song or character singing

(Scene change)

TDI. Chapter 9: A Canoe Trip

(Dock of Shame)

Chris can be seen at the Dock of Shame with a wider view to show the entire dock. "Last time on Total Drama Island..." footage shows the campers running from the collapses in the mine, from Owen in his food frenzy, falling from the slide, and the mine roller coaster. "Running, swimming, and sliding are some of the few things our campers had to do to reach the finish line."

Now the scene shifts to Courtney having a quarrel with Heather, and Naruto having a quarrel with Tyler as they fall from one of the cave waterfalls. "Heather sure likes to show her competitive spirit to win at all costs ..." Chris can't help but laugh as the scene shows the Queen Bee throwing a rock with all her might at Tyler's nuts. "Ouch, I just hope he hasn't decided to have children."

Cutting to the campfire ceremony, Chef separates Tyler and Lindsay, and takes the guy to the Boat of Losers. "In the end, Tyler was the loser tonight, and was the next one to be sent home."

Finally, Chris is shown on the dock, not in a panoramic view. "Anyway, a new episode means a new challenge. What awaits our campers? Find out here on TOTAL... DRAMA... ISLAND!" The host concludes as the episode's previous scenes are shown, it seems the zoom is here to stay.

(Opening, if you're curious, read the chapter "Not so Happy Campers - Part 1")

(Cabins)

The guys from both cabins, Eva, and Izzy can be seen playing with a frisbee. It's one of the things they do to entertain themselves, considering they've been deprived of all electronics that could allow them to communicate with the outside world.

"There goes a long one!" Geoff warns as he throws the frisbee quite a long distance. Naruto tries to intercept it but barely grazes it. Owen, on the other hand, fails to reach the frisbee in time. Izzy, in an acrobatic act, runs at full speed, using DJ as a springboard to jump into the air and catch the frisbee with her mouth.

Harold whistles, impressed by what he just saw. "Whoa, where did you learn to do that?" he asks as he watches Izzy scratch her ear like a dog. When she hears the question, she spits out the frisbee and stands up to respond.

"It's nothing out of the ordinary. When you spend time with the marines, you learn many unexpected things" she answers while taking an acorn from her top to eat it, ignoring the strange looks from the others.

"That girl really has a strange wild mind" from the Gophers' cabin, Leshawna can't help but notice Izzy's personality being next to Gwen and Courtney, who are playing chess with a board that the polite girl brought from home.

"Believe me, the best thing for your sanity is to accept it and not ask. I had a lot of headaches trying to understand her reasoning ..." Courtney admits before moving her next piece "Checkmate" she cheers happily after beating Gwen.

"Two victories each, I hope you're ready because I'm not planning on losing next time" the goth girl smiles defiantly, and Courtney returns the smile.

"Challenge accepted" Courtney says, and they set up the board again.

In another place, Cody can be seen chatting with Katie on the wooden stairs of the Bass' cabin. "And that's why we now go to the pizza restaurant around the corner. Although, to be honest, it turned out better since the pizzas there are better" the geek finishes recounting his experience.

"But didn't you have to pay for the damages caused by the hockey team?" Katie asks with a raised eyebrow. It would bother her a lot that she would have to pay for the mess of others, especially when she wasn't part of the mess. It turns out there was a school outing to a pizza restaurant to celebrate Cody's school hockey team's victory, but the idiots ended up causing several damages to the establishment, forcing it to close for a while.

"Nah, the cameras caught everything. That helped me get away scot-free" Cody dismisses her concern. "And tell me, could I ever try the ice creams you make with Sadie?" he asks, making the girl smile.

"Of course, we just have to get in touch after the show," she replies, much to Cody's delight. Not far from them, Bridgette, returning from brushing her teeth, couldn't help but watch them.

"I give them half a year at most to be together" she mutters to herself while walking next to Lindsay and Heather.

"Can you repeat me why we can't hang out with the others?" the bombshell asks, and the Queen Bee rubs the bridge of her nose. Sometimes she regretted bringing the airhead into the alliance.

"They're a distraction, Lindsay. We have to use the time to plan how to get to the final three," Heather repeats to her, and Lindsay nods, albeit a bit hesitantly.

It wasn't until a few minutes later that the speakers sounded with Chris's voice. "Attention campers, I need you on the main beach for our next challenge."

(Main Beach)

The campers didn't have to walk far, to be honest. The main beach is located next to the Dock of Shame.

"Bass, Gophers, today's challenge is a true summer camp experience, a canoe trip" Chris points to eight canoes on the shore, four painted in the color of the Screaming Gophers' flag, and four in the color of the Killer Bass' flag.

"You have to paddle your canoes straight to ... the Boney Island" the host mentions this last part in a spooky voice as the camera shows the mentioned island with a gloomy atmosphere, sounds of wolves howling, and lightning coming out of nowhere.

Now back to Chris to continue explaining what should be done. "When you arrive there, you must portage your canoes to the other end of the island, which is a two hours walk in a treacherous and dense jungle."

"We have to pour ... what?" Geoff raises his hand as if he were in a classroom.

"Portage" the host repeats, thinking the dude didn't hear well, only to realize that the confused blink is an indication that he didn't know what he was talking about.

(Confession)

"The finest example of today's education, ladies and gentlemen" Chris puts his fingers on the bridge of his nose and closes his eyes in frustration.

(Main Beach)

"Dude ... walk with your canoe" the host simplifies the best he can.

"Oh" it seems Geoff finally understood.

"When you reach the other end of the island, you'll make a fire that will be judged by moi. Once your fire is accepted, you can paddle back. The first team to return to this beach wins" Chris clarifies, starting to rub his chin to see if he forgot something until he snaps his fingers.

"Oh, yeah, before I forget, there are rumors that if you take anything from the island, you'll be cursed for the rest of your days. Normally, I wouldn't care, but I won't risk getting cursed. Capisce?" With the campers' present nodding, the host indicated that they'll need to organize themselves in the canoes and wait for his signal to start.

Although Chris had to blink when he saw Beth approaching him, curiously with toilet paper under her shoe.

"What did I miss?" Beth asks. She was in the bathroom during the entire explanation and didn't hear a word.

"Umm ... the challenge," Chris points to the campers who went down to the beach, he only hopes that she at least heard his warning of not taking anything from the island.

(Confession)

"This would have been a great opportunity to spend time with Bridge..." Geoff emphasizes. "But something tells me it's not a good time for that."

*Static*

"I'd like to spend time with Cody if I'm honest. He's been a great friend and support since Sadie left" Katie timidly admits to the audience.

*Static*

"All right, let Operation 'Heather's going down' begin." Harold seems determined to fulfill his goal.

(Main Beach)

Gwen sees Naruto preparing a canoe, this is a great opportunity to ask him if they can go together, but Cody beats her to it.

"Hey, dude, how about we go together?" the geek asks as he approaches.

"Sure, buddy, hop on. This thing is almost in the water" the japanese guy accepts without any issues, and Cody gets into the canoe.

Seeing that, the goth girl couldn't help but sigh disappointed until Leshawna takes her by the shoulder. "Come on, girl, let's team up." That cheers Gwen up a bit, at least she'll spend some time with the sassy girl.

Heather was somewhat frustrated by the trio that was just formed. Owen, in his excitement, grabbed her and Beth straight to the canoe without giving them a chance to discuss. She just hopes Lindsay doesn't reveal anything.

"Hey, Courtney, can we go together?" Bridgette asks to be accepted by the polite girl, then, turning her gaze for a moment, the surfer girl sees Geoff teaming up with DJ to then sigh.

Speaking of that duo, they have a conversation. "Hey, man, can canoes flip over?" DJ looks very worried for some reason.

"Not at all, man, those are the kayaks..." at least with the party guy's response, the Jamaican calmed down a bit, but that didn't last long, "unless we go through some turbulent waters." Oh yeah, DJ is undoubtedly nervous.

On the other hand, Katie decides to team up with Eva. The taller of the BFFF wants to stay away from Izzy. There's nothing against the crazy girl, but Katie feels safer with the athlete of her team.

"Follow my technique, punky, I'm an eighth Cherokee. That means the tribe can pick me up at any time" Izzy instructs Duncan, who pushes the canoe into the sea.

"I hope that day it's today" with a flat look due to how she addressed him, Duncan mentally prepared himself to paddle for who knows how long with Izzy. He just hopes his sanity lasts long enough.

(Later)

Seeing everyone in their positions, Chris takes out a gun and points it into the air. "All right, campers, on your marks ... get set ... PADDLE!" With that, Chris fires, officially starting the challenge.

Everything seemed to be going well, but a few seconds later, an eagle fell right at his feet. "That'll provoque some angry emails" Chris swallows at the thought of the trouble he'll have with PETA, not to mention the reprimand he'll get from the producers. What's worse is that it wasn't even his intention.

(In the water - with the Screaming Moles)

"Tell me, Lindsay, why do you obey Heather?" Harold asks the bombshell, grateful for this opportunity that fell from the heavens. So, he took advantage of it to ask the first question that would lead him down an irreversible path.

"Helena? Well, we're friends," Lindsay replies casually, and Harold looks at her incredulously. Didn't she realize she was just being used? But well, he just shakes off that thought to inquire further.

"Do you know who else could have voted for Trent?" the nerd asks, drawing a slightly nervous look from the girl.

"Um... you see..." but the girl couldn't continue when Harold continued in a calm manner.

"Relax, I also voted for him when Heather asked me to" trying to calm her down, and it worked. The girl looks surprised and happy. Great, now he felt bad for manipulating her.

"Are you also part of the alliance?" she asks relieved, but much to Harold's surprise, he tries to control himself before the girl notices.

"That's right, but someone else may have voted for Trent, don't you think?" he asks, making Lindsay pensive.

"Now that you mention it, it's true. Helena wanted the most votes to be hers, yours, Bertha's, and mine. Is there someone else in the alliance?" she wonders to herself, but Harold dismisses it.

"We might find out later. Could you keep this conversation a secret? I don't think Heather would like us talking about the alliance with the risk of being overheard," Harold instructs her, and Lindsay agrees. "Sure, Henry, I won't tell anything to Helena," the girl confirms as they continue paddling. Harold sighs; she's too trusting for her own good. He just hopes she realizes that it's not a good idea to hang out with Heather and if he can play his part in eliminating the Queen Bee or at least messing up her plan, he'll be satisfied.

On the other hand, let's say the other team members have more curious conversations.

"Wait, you want me to do what?" Naruto blinked, surprised at what Cody just asked him.

"If you can give me advice on how to get a girlfriend..." Cody clarifies a bit embarrassed by what he's asking his Japanese teammate. "I admit my recent attempts were not the best, so …" the geek cringes remembering how he 'flirted' with Gwen, it was not one of his best moments.

"I don't think I'll be of much help, dude" the Japanese admits with his own grimace, getting a confused look from the geek. Seeing Cody's face, Naruto had no choice but to sigh. "I... umm... I've never had a girlfriend," he admits somewhat embarrassed to Cody's surprise.

"What? Really? Come on, dude, you must have had one at least" Cody couldn't believe that one of the most attractive guys on the island (though he hates to admit it) has never had a girlfriend.

"Hey, don't blame me. All the girls who showed interest in me just wanted to show off that they're dating me" it wasn't a joke, he's been on some dates, but the girls just posted how awesome it was to have him as a boyfriend. There was nothing wrong with that, but they only used him to increase their popularity on social media and didn't bother to know him, and some of them went as far to make him buy them everything they wanted, no sir, Naruto Namikaze was not a living wallet, thank you very much. That or some girls just weren't his type.

Although thinking about what Cody asked crossed his mind. "Wait, do you want to ask someone out?" to which the geek nods.

"I'm not sure what to do, dude. I've tried various things with other girls, and nothing works. This time, I feel like something is really going on between us, and I don't want to ruin it" Cody admits.

"I don't know if it'll help you, but just be yourself, dude. I wouldn't want to date someone who pretends to be someone else. But don't be too much of an idiot either" the Japanese advises Cody to think about. Maybe that will help him, after all, he's always been himself when talking to her and hasn't used any cliché lines.

Seeing those two discussing from a distance, Gwen couldn't help but sigh. What could those two talk about? But her thoughts are interrupted when Leshawna gets her attention.

"Tell me, girl, when are you going to drop that sad puppy face in the rain?" the sassy girl asks.

"I don't..." the goth tried to deny, but Leshawna won't have any of it.

"You do, when are you going to make your move with Naruto, girlfriend?" she mentions, drawing a surprised look from the goth girl who turns to her. The sassy girl rolls her eyes, knowing exactly what she's thinking. "I have eyes, Gwen. I notice how you look at him when he's not paying attention. You're lucky that no one else seems interested in him, but if you don't make your move, someone else will" she says without sugarcoating her words.

"... I don't think he'd be interested in someone like me" she admits in a whisper. She's always been one of the least popular girls in school, the weird one that almost no one wants to hang out with, and Naruto seems like the popular, kind, athletic, and fun guy everyone would want to be with. How could she be with him? However, she couldn't continue her thoughts when she received a hit with Leshawna's paddle on her head. Although the sassy girl obviously held back with the hit "What's wrong with you?" she asks, somewhat annoyed.

"Snap out of it, girl. You're not getting anywhere with that attitude. If you think he's not interested in someone like you, then make him interested. It was clear at the start of the challenge that you have some initiative, but you need to be more firm, decisive, girl. And if it's because of insecurity about how you look, don't worry because you're a beautiful girl, don't let anyone tell you otherwise" Leshawna clarifies with complete honesty. She hasn't known her for long, but she can see that Gwen just needs to break out of her shell, and giving her that push would really do her a lot of good.

The last statement brings a genuine smile to Gwen's face. Her mother always tells her she's beautiful, but, as she said, it's her mother. Anyone's parents would say that to their children. But for this girl to say it, it felt good, really good. "Thanks, Leshawna" she sincerely thanked her.

"Don't mention it, honey" Leshawna dismisses it. "Now, let me see if I can convince Cody to come back with me, and you go with Naruto," she clarifies, eliciting an alarmed and nervous look from the goth girl.

"So soon?" she incredulously mentions, with Leshawna laughing heartily at the face she made. Oh yes, getting this girl out of her shell will be fun.

(In the water - with the Killer Bass)

It seems like the Killer Bass have their own conversations, and apparently, two duos talk about the same thing but from different perspectives.

"Hey, can I ask you something dude?" DJ gets distracted for a moment to respond to Geoff.

"Sure, man, what's up?" with DJ's confirmation, Geoff begins to talk.

"You see, this morning, I left Bridge an awesome gift, but since then, there have been strange vibes between us..."

"Oh my gosh Courtney, you won't believe what happened this morning." The polite girl couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the conflicted attitude of the normally relaxed surfer chick, but she lets her continue.

(Flashback off-camera)

"I had just come back from brushing my teeth, and I found something in my bed..." she mentions while showing a lump on Bridgette's bed "and when I moved the blanket, there it was." She clarifies as now you can see a heart-shaped, pink-framed picture with macaroni around it and a photo that is more like two pictures split in half, one being Bridgette's and the other being Geoff's, who, from what you can see, has DJ's arm passing over his shoulder.

(End of the off-camera flashback)

"No..." Courtney gasps unbelievably, receiving a gift like that must be really awkward.

"I made it in arts and crafts," now we go to Geoff, who has a proud smile on his 'amazing' gift.

"No... it can't be" DJ, on the other hand, had an uncomfortable face for what he was hearing.

"And it gets worse..." Bridgette continues, with Courtney paying so much attention that she momentarily forgets about the challenge.

"When I turned around to inspect, it had written..." Bridgette began.

"I hope you think of me whenever you drop loose change into this" Geoff finishes satisfied, while DJ just lowers his head with a sigh. On the other hand, Bridgette puts on a hanged face, and Courtney facepalms.

"What's up, man?" Geoff turns around to notice how DJ was.

"Dude, that was bad... just... bad," the Jamaican admits to the disappointment of the party boy. "Look, man, relationships are like making friends with a little bunny, you have to be careful and take slow steps, otherwise, it will run away" DJ advises Geoff.

"I scared the bunny away?" Geoff asks for DJ to confirm it. "Oh, crap."

"But enough about me, how are you doing, Courtney?" leaving the guys to their own, Bridgette wanted to know how Courtney is doing in the love department.

"Me? I don't know what you're talking about" the polite girl asks, completely confused.

"You seriously haven't made any progress with Duncan lately?" the surfer girl asks amused, and she couldn't help but smile mischievously when she saw the shocked look on Courtney's face. How she wished she had her phone right now to take a picture of her.

"There's nothing between us" she denies very quickly, maybe too quickly, if Bridgette's laughter is an indication of that. Now Courtney blushes a little, "Seriously, there's nothing," she retorts trying to calm down.

"And did those hugs in the camping challenge mean nothing? Your first decision was to hug him and no one else, and he was one of the furthest away from you" the surfer presses her for Courtney to continue denying it.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the girl turns her gaze to distract herself with whatever she can and avoid the topic. Seeing this, Bridgette decides to leave her alone... for now.

(Confession)

"She likes him" Bridgette affirms with a smile.

(On the coast of the Boney Island)

They didn't take much longer to reach the island, and just as its name suggests, everything is gloomy and dark, curiously enough, there's a mountain shaped like a human skull.

"Ooooh, look at that skull, how cool" Izzy seems very excited to see the island as a whole. "It seems like everything is haunted" she mentions the latter with a spooky voice, something that seems the island follows suit since a ghostly scream and a slight paranormal breeze reach them, making the less brave gulp.

"Let's just finish this" already carrying her canoe with Leshawna, Gwen was already taking the first steps into the jungle, and the others didn't take long to follow her, and soon the two teams took different routes.

(With the Screaming Gophers)

They took a route that really made them worry, the more they looked, the more they found what seemed to be settlements of native people. Neither did it help much to see skeletons scattered around; they just hoped they were props and not real.

They couldn't go much further when they noticed a tree falling towards them.

"Watch ouuut!" Naruto warns, and everyone stops.

They didn't have time to recompose themselves quickly when they noticed the bushes moving.

"And now what?" Leshawna wonders, quite concerned. It wasn't until a few seconds later that several animals resembling prehistoric beavers appeared in front of them. Yes, prehistoric beavers, because they had tails and some more similarities, but they were the size of bears and had fangs protruding from their jaws like mammoths.

"Monster beavers!" Cody exclaims, urging everyone to run and get out of sight while screaming.

(Confession)

"A remnant from the Pleistocene, the Woolly Beaver is a diurnal rodent native to Boney Island" Chris comments as if he were a documentarian, holding a book of ancient species in his hand.

"Oh... and by the way... they're carnivores" the host clarifies to the audience at home while winking.

(With the Screaming Gophers)

A bear was scratching its back with a tree trunk, everything was peaceful until it saw the Gophers escaping from the Woolly beavers.

Blinking at what it just saw, the bear takes out some glasses out of nowhere and puts them on to verify if it saw correctly.

"Hey, Moron, do something!" Heather orders him, but Naruto sees her incredulously.

"Do you want me to offer myself as a sacrifice? No, thanks!" he protests, but Leshawna intervenes.

"Oh no, we don't have time for your bickering. Owen, let out a big one!" Leshawna instructs the oaf, making everyone look at her with a mix of surprise and disgust.

"What? I'd rather be stinky than dead. Do it Owen!" the sassy girl orders, and Owen quickly obeys.

"You better cover your noses" the oaf advises, much to the dismay of the others.

(With the Killer Bass)

"Did you hear something?" Eva asks her team only to hear the sound of the loudest fart in their lives.

"I don't even want to know what happened" yep, that's something Courtney doesn't want to find out for the rest of her life.

Although thanks to that noise, huge things were flying above them.

"Um?... guys... giant birds don't exist, right?" Katie asks, noticing the enormous silhouettes.

"I don't think so" Bridgette replies, concerned. What the heck were those things? But before anyone could react, a kind of fusion between a goose and a pterodactyl takes Geoff and DJ's canoe into the air with both guys still holding it.

"Help!" DJ's screams can be heard without any problem.

"Ooh, now I feel like I'm in Jurassic Park. One less thing on the bucket list. Can we go through the tall grass? I want to find a velociraptor" it seems that Izzy is the only one on her team having fun with this.

(Confession)

"And of course, we also have the Stymphalian Goose. After migrating and finding its home on Boney Island in the Pleistocene, these birds became extremely territorial, so approaching them is not a good idea" Chris continues commenting as if the lives of his contestants weren't at risk.

"By the way, these are also carnivores" he adds with a small chuckle.

(With the Killer Bass)

"Everyone, move aside!" now leaving the canoe aside, Eva collects as many stones as she can and starts throwing them at the bird with the greatest precision possible. It wasn't until the third attempt that she hit the bird, causing it to drop the canoe with Geoff and DJ to the ground.

We can see that the bear from before was calming down after seeing what happened. However, it startles again when it sees two guys and a canoe falling from the sky in front of him. Having had enough of so much craziness for today, it just takes off its glasses and goes back to its cave.

DJ gradually gets up, holding his head to orient himself after that experience. "Man... that was one wild ride" the Jamaican mentions, turning to see Geoff, who is holding his ankle in pain. Apparently, he didn't have a good landing, or rather, a good landing technique, and this worries DJ.

"How are you feeling, man?" a silly question, yes, but what else can he ask? But leaving that aside, he inspects his party-loving partner and can see with some relief that Geoff only twisted his ankle. Worrisome, yes, but not as bad as he expected. He thanks his momma for the first aid lessons she gave him.

"Guys, is everything okay?" Courtney asks as she and the rest of the Killer Bass approach them.

"I'm fine, but Geoff twisted his ankle" he clarifies for them to see the guy trying to get up with difficulty.

"Should we call Chris to withdraw him from the challenge?" Bridgette asks the others.

"No, I'll be fine. I just need to get back into the rhythm" the party-guy assures, trying to ease his team's concerns.

"No offense, dude, but you'll only slow us down, and I don't plan on becoming anyone's dinner" at least Duncan brings out his common sense.

"Oh, for the love of, DJ, I need your help" Eva instructs the Jamaican so that both of them stack one canoe on top of the other and place Geoff on top of the canoes, making it easier for Eva, Katie, and DJ to carry him.

"All right, everyone, let's go. I don't want to spend more time on this island" Eva instructs, and everyone starts running, encountering two paths.

"Um... which way do we take?" DJ wonders when he sees two routes until Courtney answers.

"To the right. It's the widest path, enough space for us to pass without any problems," the girl gives her reasons for everyone to agree and run through that route.

Although not far away, the Gophers are hot on their heels after recovering from Owen's stink bomb.

"I can see the other team, they're taking the right path" Naruto announces as everyone runs.

"Then let's take the left one" Heather orders them, and everyone rolls their eyes. Clearly, she wants nothing to do with the other team.

(On the beach on the other end of Bone Island)

It seems that the queen bee's instructions yielded good results because they were able to reach the beach first and start gathering as many branches as possible to make the fire quickly, with Chris watching them from a helicopter.

Taking advantage of the lead they had, Leshawna decides to talk with Cody while they collect branches.

"Hey, Cody, can I ask you a favor?" with that, the geek gives Leshawna a puzzled look, something the sassy girl immediately catches onto.

"It's no biggie, I just wanted to ask if you could come back to the island with me while Gwen goes with Naruto" Leshawna clarifies, causing Cody to blink in response.

"Uh... why do you want to switch …? Ohh," he realizes the reason as he turns to see that Gwen is spending some time with Naruto while they try to start the fire. "Does Gwen...?" he tries to ask, but Leshawna interrupts him.

"Yeah, but I'm going to help her break out of her shell first. Will you help?" she asks again, and Cody agrees.

"Sure, but only if you help me with something" Cody puts his conditions, and Leshawna raises an expectant eyebrow. "I'll tell you on the way back" the geek clarifies, and then they shake hands, sealing the deal before bringing more branches for the bonfire.

It wasn't until a couple of minutes later that the Killer Bass arrived.

"Oh no, everyone hurry up" Courtney immediately gets worried, and the whole team does their best to catch up with the Gophers.

While everyone is busy, no one notices how Beth, while collecting branches, comes across a Tiki that she finds quite interesting. She simply takes it and puts it in one of her pockets, unaware of the warning Chris gave during his explanation.

Not much time passed, and it seems that both teams lit their bonfires at the same time, much to the Gophers' surprise.

"How the heck did they light theirs so quickly?" Gwen undoubtedly wants an answer soon, which comes when Duncan shows a lighter with a smug smirk.

"There's no rules against using lighters" the host clarifies as both teams try to make their bonfires as large as possible.

Moving to Geoff, it seems the party guy is not having a good time. He can only take slow steps and make sure he is always close to the canoe for when Chris approves their bonfire.

He spent some time collecting branches until a voice called him.

"There's nothing wrong with asking for help, you know" the voice comes from the surfer on his team.

"Hey, Bridge" he greets in a complicated manner. Their relationship, if you can call it that way, has been somewhat awkward today.

"Don't push yourself too hard Geoff, we're a team, and we help each other out" she clarifies with a reassuring smile as she takes the branches from Geoff, and they walk slowly back to the bonfire.

"Sure, thanks" he appreciates, but a reminder of his conversation with DJ in the canoe made him want to mention something else.

"Um... I... would like to apologize for making you feel uncomfortable about the gift this morning" the party guy apologizes, surprising the girl.

(Confession)

"Right now? In the middle of a challenge?" Bridgette asks with wide-open eyes.

(On the beach on the other end of Bone Island)

With a sigh, the girl looks him in the eyes, capturing Geoff's full attention. "Look, I know we have to talk about it, but can we talk about it after the challenge?" After the guy nods, the surfer turns away to continue, "Okay, for now, let's finish this." With that, she walks away to continue.

'Slow steps' he repeats to himself in his mind. It's better to slow down a bit.

It didn't take long for Izzy to come with a ball of something.

"What do you have there, Izzy?" Katie asks curiously and alarmed. When it comes to the crazy girl, you always have to be at least a few meters away.

"A homemade Firestarter made with tree sap, sand, and some other stuff. You better get away, guys, this will go boom-boom" she mentions with a smile that makes even the Gophers take a good distance from what's about to happen. Seeing this, Izzy throws the mixture, and man, it looks like a bomb went off on the Killer Bass side, so much so that Chris had to move away from the pillar of fire that almost reached him despite the distance from the ground.

"WOO-HOO-HOO, AWESOME...!" Chris had to hand it to the girl, that was epic. "And the Bass get the lead" the host announces through a megaphone, giving the green light for the mentioned team to return.

But the shock of the moment made everyone keep looking at Izzy, who has her face covered in ashes, but she's still laughing at what just happened.

(Confession)

"It's official, we need to keep an eye on Izzy. I don't want to awake with our cabin on fire next morning" Courtney mentions to herself in a sort of trance.

*Static*

"I'm glad I'm not on her team" Gwen admits with a fearful look.

*Static*

Izzy is still laughing with her face full of ashes. "Explosivo is really loco for boom-boom," she clarifies while continuing to laugh.

(On the beach on the other end of Boney Island)

"H-h-how did you do that?" Katie questions, barely recovering her voice.

"It's a long story, but I can only tell you that I spent a summer training with the reserves, caused some trouble, and accidentally blew up their kitchen. Because of that, now the army is after me, forcing me to keep a low profile" she clarifies as if she was talking about the weather while jumping up.

...

...

...

...

Well, at this point, no one knows what to think of her.

But now out of shock, the Bass decide to take their canoes back to the Main Beach.

Noticing the advantage, Harold gets nervous about the possibility of losing and grabs anything wooden to make the flame bigger. However, he didn't realize in time that he took the paddles of his team and threw them into the fire, much to his team's horror.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Heather roars at the nerd, who shrinks under her roar. If it weren't for needing his vote, she would already be kicking him off the show. But now that the queen bee thinks about it, this harms her plans too much since they will vote for him, no matter what. Damn it!

But well, the deed is done, and the flames reached the magnitude for Chris to authorize them to return, but they were still in trouble.

"Now, how are we going to get back?" Lindsay wonders as everyone thinks of the best possible solution until Beth comes up with an idea.

"I got it, we can stack the canoes and have two or three people push us" the farm girl announces, receiving surprised looks, but not in a bad way.

"That could work, nice one Beth..." Leshawna congratulates her, and then looks at Naruto. "Do you think you can take us all fast enough, guy?" she questions, to which the boy shakes his head.

"I can push you, but fast enough? I don't think so. I'll need help" the Japanese guy clarifies, prompting Heather to push Harold next to him.

"Here's your help" the queen bee offers. Harold was about to complain, but the looks from his team prevented him from doing so.

(Confession)

"Do I feel bad for Harold for being the target of others? Yes" Beth spoke to the audience. "But I can't say he doesn't deserve it."

(Main Beach)

Yep, it could be said that it was an effort in vain as the Gophers arrived way much later. The Bass were even entertaining themselves playing cards or whatever else.

"I know I'm saying the obvious, but the Bass win" the host announces, turning to the Gophers. "Gophers, see you at the campfire ton-" But before he could finish, a red army helicopter arrives with a spotlight pointing at the Bass, more specifically at Izzy.

"Izzy, we know you're there!" the voice of a soldier can be heard. "You're under arrest!" he mentions again, making everyone, including Chris and the cameramen, turn to look at the girl, completely shocked.

"Wait a moment, you mean all that bs you were talking about earlier was true?" Duncan asks with his jaw wide open, even he hasn't gotten into this much trouble with the law.

"There are many things you don't know about me, my esteemed comrades" Izzy responds mysteriously, although the truth is she just wanted to leave them with the doubt about what she did, because they're only after her for accidentally setting fire to several of their facilities.

So, with that, the girl points at the helicopter. "YOU'LL NEVER CATCH ME ALIVE, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" With that, she runs away and laughs at the top of her lungs, as only she knows how, with the helicopter chasing her into the forest.

...

...

...

...

"...Due to an unforeseen event..." Chris spoke in a low and surprised voice about what just happened. "Instead of an elimination, the Gophers will send one of them to the Bass as a replacement. Who will you send?" the host asks the team only for Harold to respond immediately seeing the opportunity.

"I'll go" he clarifies, causing the rest of his team to look at him weirdly. "What? I was going to be eliminated tonight if it weren't for what happened" he more states than asks, making the rest understand.

"Nothing against you, dude, it's just that the last move wasn't the best" Cody clarifies for Harold to accept. He can live with that.

Now shaking off his momentary amazement, Chris turns to the camera. "Alright, the outcome of this episode wasn't what we expected. We had a surprise elimination, a camper changes teams, and tension increases. What will happen next time? Find out next time on TOTAL... DRAMA... ISLAND!" the host bids farewell with the usual zoom, but his voice is still heard.

"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to forget about what just happened." No one disagreed with Chris on that one.

End of the chapter.

Campers:

Screaming Gophers: Beth, Cody, Gwen, Heather, Leshawna, Lindsay, Naruto, Owen.

Killer Bass: Bridgette, Courtney, DJ, Duncan, Eva, Geoff, Harold, Katie.

Eliminated: Justin, Noah, Sadie, Trent, Tyler, Izzy.

One fourth of the competition, I can already see progress, and well, I've read the reviews, I know that some of you might find a little bit curious yet problematic that Naruto doesn't have as much screentime as expected, don't worry, I understand that, and I'm also grateful that you can understand the format of given equal screentime to everyone, the only thing that I can tell you to reassure you is that with each elimination, Naruto will receive more screentime, I would be able to rectify the problem that way, so thank you for pointing that out.

About the harem, to be honest, I'm experiencing writing a story for the first time, everything is new to me so that is going to be a problem to develop correctly, so, I'm asking if someone with experience creating harem stories is willing to help me, but be conscious that I want to do it as correctly as possible, I already did some research, polygamy is illegal in Canada, so we have to be creative in how to develop the pairing and be legit at the same time, I may have an idea but well, people understand others while talking (or writing in this case), and before someone suggests it, no the method applied by Mumei Mu isn't going to work for two reasons, because Naruto in this story isn't Chris' son, so why would the host help him out like that? And two, because I'm not Mumei Mu, I have my own style of doing things, I can inspire myself with his work, but I don't want to make a copy paste of his story, I hope you could understand what I'm saying.

Oh, and before I forget, if you want to tell me about Gwen's lack of confidence when talking with Leshawna, that is actually somewhat cannon, if you watch TDI again, at the beginning she didn't want to deal with anyone, it actually were Trent and Leshawna that broke her shell to be more social with other people, and in the "Trial by Tri-Armed Triathlon" episode she actually confesses to Geoff that she is the weird one of the school that no one wants to hang out with, not directly obviously, but the way she says it tells how was her life before the show, so yeah, Gwen at this point of the story is somewhat insecure about herself an once in a while really want to experience what the cool teens in school do.

And well, that's it for now from the not so much of a reader now.

I will be reading the reviews, accepting constructive criticism and interesting ideas.

Until next time.

(In cameras post-credits - sunset)

(Dock of Shame)

"Yo, Gwen, what happened with Leshawna?" Naruto asks as he's just arriving to see his goth friend.

"Something came up, so I don't think she can be here" Gwen replies with a smile. What her Japanese friend doesn't know is that it's just an excuse both girls created for the two of them to have some time alone.

"That's a shame" Naruto laments. "So it'll just be you and me," he mentions with a smile, causing Gwen to blush, although it gets lost due to the sunset's light.

"Y-yeah" the girl mentally scolds herself for stuttering a bit but regains her composure shortly after.

Naruto, not noticing his friend's slip, turns to watch the island's sunset. "I must admit, that is a view I wouldn't normally see in my neighborhood" he thinks aloud, catching the goth girl's attention.

"Do you like the sunset?" she asks, somewhat curious. She never thought the Japanese guy would like things like that.

"Since I was a kid, I like watching the sunset from different places. It gives its unique touch, and it gives me a sense of calm" he honestly answers, though the girl couldn't help but have an amused smile.

"What?" Naruto asks, curious.

"Nothing against you, Naruto, but hearing 'calm' and your name in the same sentence sounds weird" Gwen admits. That guy is always doing something that sure doesn't fits the word 'calm'.

Now the Japanese guy laughs nervously. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense." He couldn't refute that, he was quite active, and his friend's little giggle didn't help, although...

"Cute giggle" he comments with a slight smile, making her stop immediately and blush with embarrassment as she realizes how she behaved, and a bit flattered due to the comment.

"Thanks" she thanks as the two start chatting in complete confidence with each other.

(With Leshawna and Cody)

"It was about time that girl did something" the sassy girl mentions as she watches from afar that the two of them sit on the edge of the dock to chat while watching the sunset. But she puts that aside to look at Cody next to her.

"All right, Cody, let's see your case" she says with a smile that made him somewhat nervous.

"Leshawna, what do you plan to do?" the geek asks somewhat unsure.

"Nothing big, we're just going to practice a bit of your confidence and then let you go ask your girl" she indicates before pulling him by the arm. "Come on, buddy, we don't have all day."

"Wait, now?" he asks, surprised.

"You got that right, buddy, Leshawna always goes straight to the point" she replies with a confident smile, it seems she got to be a love doctor today.

(Forest)

Bridgette and Geoff can be seen finishing their conversation.

"So … everything's chill between us?" Geoff asks, scratching his head.

"All good" the girl assures, happy that they could get rid of their awkwardness. She likes the guy, maybe not in that way yet, but if given enough time, she can make a decision.

"Thanks, Bridge, and again, sorry for rushing things earlier," he apologizes, but the girl just gives him a playful punch on the shoulder.

"The past is in the past, Geoff" she clarifies before going back to her cabin.

Although, in another part of the forest, there seems to be another conversation, and not a very pleasant one.

"All right, idiot, what's your game?" Heather accuses Harold, barely containing her anger.

"Let's say our agreement is canceled" he responds as confidently as he could.

"Well, I guess you wouldn't mind spying on the other team. Clearly, if you don't want me to share your secret," Heather mentions in the calmest way possible, sending chills through his spine, but Harold had enough of it.

"How about this? We take different way, and I don't mention anything about your alliance" he threatened, and this worked since the queen bee saw him with wide-open eyes. But the nerd continued, "Trent's elimination wasn't the best move, obviously, something weird was going to stand out" mentioning his reasons, obviously protecting Lindsay from Heather's anger.

"You..." it seems that now the queen bee girl is on the ropes for the first time since arriving on the island, but after a few seconds, she has a plan of what to do. "Fine, enjoy your freedom as much as you can because I'll do everything possible to make you go down" she sentences before kicking him in the ankle, making him scream in pain, and then she goes to the cabin.

Even with the pain in his ankle, the nerd couldn't help but give Heather a dirty look as she walked away. "No, you're the one going down." He finally got tired of being used and manipulated.