CHAPTER TWO

In which we're ALL IN THIS TOGEEEETHERRR…!

(No, dammit! This is not High School Musical!)

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Shikamaru was floored. He wasn't just amazed, he was floored. They weren't in a basement, they were in another dimension. Or what seemed to be that big, anyway. It was still pitch black and he still had that feeling like he was in some sort of box, but the way Sasuke described it made it seem like it was a neverending plane of…of…of nothingness.

And speaking of Sasuke, his appearance alone was unsettling. If he was here, who else was? Not to mention that Kin Tsuchi girl, who was, according to Shino, supposed to be dead.

"So, Sasuke. If what you say is true, and we really are in Madara's jutsu…" about that little twist, Shikamaru had high doubts. "Then that means…what, exactly?"

Sasuke sighed (Shikamaru could calculate his position at about six feet away) and shifted his weight slightly. "From what I can tell, Madara's mask can suck people into different dimensions. I'm not sure if it's genjutsu or not, but that's where we are now."

"Why the hell is Madara playing this game then, huh? Mind telling us, Sasuke?"

Sighing, Shikamaru put a hand to his forehead and rubbed his temples. "Naruto, it's not a fake Sasuke, all right? Stop being troublesome." Turning his head in Sasuke's direction, he raised his eyebrows questioningly. "He does have a point, though. What's Madara up to?"

"He wouldn't tell me," Sasuke muttered. "Last thing I remember, he walked off mumbling about a space-time rift."

Naruto scratched his head. "Space-time rift? Space…time…rift…huh. Where have I heard that before?"

Something went off in Shikamaru's head. He snapped his fingers suddenly, and the sound was lost to the blackness. "Gramps!"

"Wow, thanks Shikamaru. I really appreciate that," Naruto whined.

"Not you. Remember those nomads? The ferret?"

A long, painful pause. Then Naruto laughed slowly. "Ooooh yeahh! That stupid cat was so annoying…waaaaaaait a minute, what are you saying, here?"

Sasuke sounded irked when he spoke next. "What are you two talking about?"

Shikamaru sighed. "It's a long story. Naruto can tell you sometime."

"Huh. Spare me."

"Hey! Quiet, you impostor."

"You be quiet, dead-last."

"I am intrigued. What does this ferret have to do with where we are now?" Shikamaru almost jumped. He'd forgotten Shino was still there.

"Well, the ferret doesn't, but there was this kid…eh, I forget his name…"

"Temujin! His name is Temujin." Shikamaru could almost hear Naruto grinning. "He's a lot like you, Sasuke. Only…blond. And he can smile."

Shikamaru smirked; that much was true. "Naruto, maybe you should tell them about the summoning jutsu, since you were actually there."

"Oh! Right, the jutsu." Naruto shifts into a different position next to Shikamaru and leans back on his hands. "Uhh, sure. Well, there was this big jutsu diagram on the floor and Gramps said it could summon a space-time rift if Temujin activated it…creating a black hole and stuff. So he did, and it stopped the mines of Gelel. But I don't get it. What's that gotta do with anything?"

Somewhere over to the left, Kiba snorted. "Gelel? What the hell is that?"

Shino hummed softly in his throat. "Shikamaru…you're saying this could have been what Madara was talking about?"

"I dunno. It could be." Ugh. He could already tell this was going to be a drag. "This sucks."

SOO. I'm not entirely sure how Madara's mask thing works, but this is how it goes in this story. So there.

This is a pretty short chapter. Sorry about that. More next tine.

~ins