Darkness Falls

Chapter 33

"This place looks creepy." Commented one Ino Yamanaka, as the blonde genin stared through the fence, into the forest the second part of the exams was about to take place in. The sounds of various beasts and other such horrors that hid within the trees caused her to involuntarily shudder.

"Heh, you're about to find out first hand why they call this place, the Forest of Death." Anko grinned with a sadistic glint in her eyes as she stared at the blonde girl, causing her to flinch slightly.

"Pfft, you're just trying to psych us out, and I ain't falling for it." Kiba exclaimed with a tone of arrogance. "There is nothing in those trees out there that I can't handle."

"Oh really? You're pretty cocky, aren't you already? " Anko grinned. In a quick movement, the snake mistress launched two separate kunai towards the cocky genin. One scratching his cheek, allowing blood to flow freely, while the other went a little south and threatened the very thing that made him a boy. Earning a yelp of fright from the Inuzuka.

Though before he could fully react, Anko had circled around him and brought a third kunai out from her pouch and placed it just at his jugular. A cruel chuckle rumbling in her throat as she leaned into the boy, taking a lick of his blood.

"There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance." The snake mistress informed the boy with sadistic glee. "One will carry you far. And the other, well, the other gets their entire team killed. And since my precious little Usagi-chan is on your team, I would be most displeased should anything happen to her because of your arrogance, understand? "

For his part, Kiba could only dumbly nod in acknowledgment, as he fought back the urge to highlight himself in front of everyone. Whilst Hinata supported a healthy blush at the snake mistresses nick name for her, especially with the reasoning behind such a name.

"Good," The snake mistress smiled. "I'm glad we understand each oth ... .."

Anko didn't finish as she felt a cold wave of blood lust wash over her from behind, swiftly producing a fourth kunai and bringing it up just as a shadow fell over the two of them, turning to see a strange Kusagakure kunoichi standing behind them. A long tongue extending from the young woman's mouth as she offered the previously thrown kunai to the snake mistress.

"Your kunai, I believed you dropped it." The woman stated with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Thanks." Anko replied as she accepting the weapon being given back to her. "Though you should be careful with who you sneak up on while radiating such blood lust."

With a subtle gesture, Anko alerted the foreign kunoichi to the three figures that now stood behind her. To the Kusa kunoichi's shock, three other Konoha genin had surrounded her without her being aware in the forms of Hinata, Sakura, and Naruto. And while their stances seemed relaxed, it was clear to the woman that they were ready to strike at the slightest indication that the snake mistress was in danger.

'These three were able to sneak up behind me without me know, but how?' The kunoichi mentally pondered, cautiously taking a step back away from the second proctor.

"Sorry, I'll try to keep it under control from now on." The Kusa Kunoichi apologized as she made her way back to where her team reamined. "But the sight of warm blood just gets me excited."

"Heh, looks like we have some hot-blooded teams on our hands." Anko grinned as she watched the kunoichi's retreating form. "Should be fun."

"Anyways, listen up!" The snake mistress turned to continue addressing the participants of the exam. "Before we begin the second exam, there is something I need to hand out first."