A/N: Konnichiwa, minna! Hikari's back with a new chapter! Sorry it took so long; I had to work on part of my project proposal for English. The good news is, we could choose any topic that interested us...and I chose ninjutsu! Wheee!

Anyway, enough of my drabble. On to the fic!

Disclaimer: Shame on you if you don't know by now...

Chapter 8: Threat

"Hiromi! Kyouju!" Yuriko called as she skidded into the main hall of the compound. Kai and his friends followed seconds after. Amethyst irises darted left and right, apprehensive, searching. Nothing.

"What happened?" Kai asked quietly, eyes travelling from one end of the hall to the other, searching as well.

"I'm...not sure..." Yuriko replied, one foot in front of the other. On butterfly feet, she made her way down the hall, entering the first room she came to. Moments later, she was out again, traversing the length of the hall in this manner. Slowly, carefully, so as not to startle any intruder present.

"I'll check the east hall," Takao volunteered. No answer, yet the eager teen took it as a 'yes'. In seconds, he was out the door. From somewhere that seemed very far off, the shouji slammed open, but did not shut. There were somewhat loud footsteps. Yuriko winced as the sounds assaulted her eardrums; so sudden was the disturbance to the silence. If there was indeed an enemy within the compound, he or she was most surely alert to their presence now.

At length, she found herself in the last room off the main hall. Trepidation mounting at what she might find, she slid the door open slowly; quiet as a shadow, slipped inside. Max was checking the rooms she herself had gone into previously; Rei had gone outside, perhaps, to tell Takao not to make so much noise. And Kai...inwardly, the auburn-haired girl shrugged. Right now, surprisingly, she found she couldn't care less where the slate-haired teen was; what she wanted to know was whether the more vulnerable members of their small group were all right or not.

Closing her eyes briefly, taking deep, slow breaths, she ventured further into the room. This was slightly larger in comparison with the other rooms along the hall. And then, a gasp, and her head whipped around to face the source of the sound.

It was Hiromi. Cowering next to her was Kyouju, large glasses askew where they sat on his forehead. Yuriko heaved a sigh of relief and knelt in front of the pair.

"What's wrong?" she asked gently, laying a pale hand on the other girl's. Concern shone through the amethyst orbs just as fear and confusion twinkled in the ruby ones.

Mute, Hiromi raised a trembling hand, index finger extended, pointing to the opposite corner of the room.

Lifting her gaze, Yuriko noticed, for the first time, that the window had been broken, something heavy thrown through them. And then, her eyes following the path the frightened girl's finger had dictated, she spotted, half-hidden in the stifling dimness of the room, something rather large, its fur dark brown or black. It's back was to them, facing the corner. A dog, perhaps, or a giant tanuki, if there were any in the forest beyond. She recalled vaguely that there were quite a lot of those back in her adopted home in Tokyo. She approached it, touched its hide uncertainly.

She drew back, a loud gasp torn from her throat. Whatever this animal was, it no longer moved, no longer breathed. Dead. Blood ran from it's mangled throat, had pooled near the wall. She turned back around to face the pair, eyes wide.

"How did this...get in here?" She fought to keep the fear from her voice.

"It...it just c-crashed through th-the window..." Kyouju stammered, taking his glasses and cleaning them on his shirt. A nervous reaction, Yuriko realized.

"You didn't see who did it?"

Both shook their heads. No, they hadn't. Yuriko sighed, then turned back to the animal. She blinked, noticing something she hadn't before. Seeming to quiver ever so slightly in a phantom breeze, the handle of some small weapon, possibly a kunai, stuck up from out of the mammal's neck, seeming darker than the shadows surrounding it. At the point where blade met flesh, there was a small cloth pouch, little less than three-and-a-half inches in width. Nondescript, yet it drew Yuriko's attention to it as readily as if it had been an elaborate painting.

Slowly, she detached the blade from the body. The pouch slid to the floor, emitting no sound as it settled on the wood. A small cloth was produced and Yuriko wiped whatever blood there was off of the kunai, and then tucked it into her weapons bag. Might as well use it, since it was so easily acquired. She eyed the small pouch warily before picking it up and undoing the small, thin grass rope that held it closed. Taking a deep breath, she reached the first two fingers of one hand through the opening. There was a crinkle of paper, and she withdrew her fingers, taking the contents of the bag out as she did so.

Now she held a small piece of rice paper. It had been folded twice, the first along the vertical, then the horizontal. Both folds had been precisely down the middle. She unfolded it. It was only around five inches square.

She gasped again and dropped the paper. She was breathing hard now.

"Yuriko?" Kai peeked in. "Have you-" he noticed Hiromi and Kyouju, and then fell silent. "I see. What happened that made at least one of them scream?" he asked, stepping into the room. Before he was fully in the room, however, Yuriko brushed past him, a frenzy of pattering feet resounding back up the hallway. A low sound, indicative of wood on wood, and then a shk as the shouji slid shut.

Kai stood there, unmoving, trying to come up with a plausible explanation for Yuriko's sudden actions. There was another patter of feet, louder this time, announcing the arrival of Rei, Max, and Takao.

"What's wrong with Yuriko?" Rei asked, concerned, stepping into the room beside the slate-haired teen.

"She looked like she'd seen a ghost," Takao added, settling into a cross-legged position on the floor rather noisily.

Max opened his mouth to say something, then spotted the dark shape in the corner. "What's that?"

Takao made to move closer to it, to get a closer look, when he felt something launch itself at his chest. It was Hiromi. She was sobbing, frightened. In need of comforting human contact. A few paces behind her, Kyouju sat, arms around his knees, still trembling slightly. Perhaps he was feeling better, they couldn't know for sure. Takao sighed and rubbed Hiromi's back, somewhere in between the shoulder blades, trying to soothe her.

"We're all here now, Hiromi," he said quietly. "You and Kyouju are safe..."

"This is serious..." Kakashi muttered, eyeing the sheet of rice paper Yuriko held out to him. "How did you find this again?"

"It was...in a pouch. Whoever sent this...stuck a kunai through the cord of the pouch and...into the animal's neck before heaving it in through the window, scaring Hiromi and Kyouju in the process..." The amethyst-eyed girl replied between gasps for air. She had run from the compound all the way to this field, where she knew she'd find the silver-haired jounin; she had yet to recover from the tiring trip.

Kakashi gently slid the sheet of paper out of Yuriko's fingers, holding it up so he could examine it more closely. In the center of the twice-folded sheet was a circle inscribed in black ink. Around it were nine smaller circles, also in black. Inside the black circle, in red ink this time, was the ideogram for the komuso. His single visible eye widened briefly, then narrowed once more. He sighed once more, unsure now whether his had been a good decision or not, to bring the seven young ones here.

"And...this animal," he continued. "What did you say it looked like?"

"I couldn't be sure, sensei, but its fur was dark, and blood had pooled on one side. I'm certain that these are the signs I have been warned against, but-"

"But they have shown themselves, I am afraid..." Kakashi stood up, sighing once more. It wasn't sadness; there was no cause for the emotion, he knew. It was, he felt, a resignation. He turned to face the auburn-haired teen.

"Yuriko, I know you've just begun to teach your friends the basics," he began, giving a small smile. "But perhaps it's time to teach them how to control their newfound abilities..."

Purple orbs widened. "But, Kakashi-sensei-"

"I know. You can't teach all of them at once, since each identifies with a different element, correct?" The smile on the jounin's face grew wider. "Tsunade-sama has already instructed me to get ready in case I was called upon to help you train your friends. Plus several chuunin - and jounin, if needed."

"I...see..." Yuriko looked down at her lap. "But wouldn't that mean explaining circumstances to them? Well, to all but one, who already knows their situation..."

"At some point, yes, it does. Also, Sasuke knows about his relation to Kai now."

Yuriko nodded slowly, and then comprehension hit. She glanced up quickly. "What? How did he find out?"

"Apparently, he was eavesdropping the day Tsunade-sama revealed the information...Curiously, I never noticed his chakra signature in the area..." He reached up gloved hand, scratched his head as though in confusion. "I was probably excited by the news..."

The amethyst-eyed teen lay back, spreadeagled on the grass. Waving one hand, she generated a breeze, just light enough to wash over her and Kakashi, chasing away the heat that descended upon them. She breathed deeply, and then smiled. "That's probably what happened, sensei; it sounds just like you..." A giggle, and then she fell silent and closed her eyes. She imagined - tried to imagine - if she'd been like any other girl, with now fantastical powers and abilities. What would have happened, then?

She sighed. It all seemed so boring in her mind's eye. Perhaps it was better this way, death threats and all.

Dark.

It was so dark. And cold. The breeze blowing didn't help matters any.

Slowly, Sasuke got to his feet, glancing about warily, bringing a hand closer to the high neck of his shirt. He clenched the fingers about the material, tightening the loose collar against the biting wind.

This doesn't look like any place I've ever been to... he thought, brow furrowed. And how in Kami's name did I get here? And where is 'here', exactly?

"So...she has recieved the message." A deep, rolling voice somewhere to his left, sounding uncomfortably close. Sasuke turned, startled momentarily. There were two men, only feet away from where he was standing, yet it seemed that they'd taken no notice of him. Both looked to be in their late twenties to early forties, and one of them, with dark brown hair, was kneeling in front of his companion, who remained standing. It was this one who had spoken.

The man who was kneeling glanced up, smirking. "Yes, Shinichi, she has. True, it was two of her companions who saw the animal first, but the warning itself, so far, is known only to her-"

"No, not only she, Shinji." The man called Shinichi cut in, eyes closed. "If what Eiji and Keitaro have observed is correct, than its possible that her old mentors, and even the village head knows of the warning we have sent."

Curiosity got the better of the young Uchiha, and he stepped closer. Who are these people? What warning are they talking about?

"You're sure of this?" Shinji asked, finally standing up and looking his companion in the eye.

"There is a great possibility."

"If that's the case, then we'll have to act quicker, won't we?"

Shinichi smirked. "Of course..." A dark chuckle then escaped his throat. "We shall strike when least expected; that Yuriko will perish, and her clan's legacy with her. And then...we'll be free to take over Konoha!"

Sasuke awoke with a start. His breathing was ragged, and a cold sweat was starting to break out on his forehead. Shuddering inwardly, he brought a hand to his face to wipe away the moisture, at the same time recalling the dream he had.

But what kind of dream was that? he wondered, staring off into the distance. He'd gone into the forest to train, and had probably fallen asleep when he lay down on the ground to rest afterwards. In the dream...those two men had names. That's not how dreams work; they're supposed to be only memories, and I know that I haven't seen those guys in my entire life!

Then it hit him. He had read about dormant ninja abilities while still in the Academy. They were called 'dormant' because they rarely manifested themselves in individuals. Among them was a form of clairvoyance where the user didn't see just the future, but if they wished, the present as well.

Had that dream sprung from that ability? Sasuke didn't know. Hell, he didn't even know if even had that type of clairvoyance.

The implications of what he'd just seen didn't escape him however, and he quickly got to his feet.

I have to find out if this 'warning' exists... he thought, making his way towards the gates. And if it does...

He gulped, the possibility threatening to overwhelm him. If the warning does exist...then...

Konoha must prepare for war.

A/N: Saa, kono chapter wa owari, minna (Okay, this chapter's over, everyone). Let me know what you think, all right? Thanks to Sherbet Mayhem for checking this fic out; we novice writers need more serious reviewers like you! Domo arigatou gozaimashita, Sherby-sama! A big "thank you!" also to those who've stuck with this fic this far; we really appreciate it!

Oh, I also changed the names of the two 'mystery men'. Rael-Lirdu, hope you find this more comfortable now…and the ruler thingy works now! LOL! (I get excited over the lamest things...so kiddish... ;)

Mata atode, minna! Peace out and God bless!