(A/N) Forest of Death begins. This'll be fun.... *Evil plotting look* Oh, as I haven't mentioned this yet, I'm not switching to anyone else's POV, this is entirely Secilia's. And, If I cause your death with this book, I'm sorry. Don't kill me in return, please.

"You're early," Secilia commented. "Ibiki hasn't said anything yet. I said the passing part."

Anko looked visibly cowed. "Oops."

"Again, Anko, patience," Ibiki growled.

Anko scanned the genin. "Wow, so many? Ibiki, you've gone soft."

"Or it could be that this is a stronger batch or candidates," He said mildly.

"Well, we'll have you weeded out in no time! By the time I'm done with you, more than half of you will be gone."

Secilia snorted. "Come on, it really ought to be 'more than three fourths' of us. If this test is any indication, three fourths or more of this batch is doomed. With probably almost an eighth of us dying or otherwise being severely injured."

The other genin looked rather pale, except Kia and Ross, who rolled their eyes at their teammate, making sure Secilia spotted the gesture.

"What?" Secilia protested. "I'm using small numbers!"

"Not the problem," Kia muttered under her breath.

"I'll tell your sensei where to send you tomorrow for the exam. See you tomorrow kiddies!" Anko shouted cheerfully.

Secilia snorted again, standing up and walking out the door, spotting the shocked face of her cousin on the way out.

"That was scary," Ross said, catching up to her teammate with Kia close behind.

"We thought he was going to fail you for sure," Kia added.

"Come on, like they were going to do that. In all honesty, I was four seconds away from complimenting his trench coat. That thing is epic!"

Kia and Ross gave her flat looks. "You didn't get it, did you," Kia asked.

Secilia frowned. "Aside from the fact that I'm fairly certain I'm the only person who could've solved those with the exception of like, Sakura and Shikamaru? And that everyone was cheating around me? I'm not blind. I spotted Shino's bugs, I spotted Gaara's sand, I spotted Tenten's mirrors, Neji and Hinata's use of their byakugan, and Sasuke using his Sharingan. Well, I sensed those last two."

Her teammates sent her odd glances. "Sensed?" Ross wondered.

"Oh yeah, I'm a sensory type ninja. I've been working on it on the side. It's been pretty cool. I sensed the surge of chakra that comes with awakening their kekki genkai from the three of them."

"And you just, forgot to tell us?" Kia asked, unimpressed.

"I thought Jade would've told you. Besides, it never came up." Secilia defended herself.

"Still woulda been nice to know. Wonder what we're supposed to be expecting tomorrow?" Ross thought aloud.

"Something sadistic," Secilia replied grimly. "I've heard of Miterashi Anko before, she's in the T and I department, which is to say, torture and information. She's a master at it, so, we're doomed. Maybe. It depends."

"Depends on what?" Kia asked.

"Whether Gaara is out for my cousin's blood enough that he hunts him down in the place. If he is hunting down my cousin, we should provide backup. I'd rather not see my cousin dead. If he isn't, my cousin will manage fine on his own, and we can grab what we need, and get out."

"Anko is that bad, huh?"

"Probably worse then you think, from what I've gotten on her, she trained under Orochimaru the snake sannin for a while there. And has a serious sadistic side. I've heard training under her can include very poisonous snakes and explosions."

"Well, in any case, you should actually sleep tonight. You'll need the sleep under your belt." Kia and Ross turned to go down the path they needed. "See you tomorrow."

"Try not to be too late," Secilia sniped at them. "Any black cat or squirrel excuses will end up with one of you getting the middle watch every time." Before they could respond, Secilia jumped onto a rooftop and ran off.

"Right, if we're doing something with Anko, I'm going to need to prepare some stuff," Secilia murmured under her breath. She unlocked the door to the house, opening the door and kinda expecting her mom to greet her at the door. When no overzealous hugs broke her back, she looked around, noting the darkened house. "Mom?" She asked, tentatively venturing into the house.

She glanced into the darkened kitchen, flicking on the light as she did. There wasn't anything out of place, which was odd, cause it was past the time her mom was usually getting dinner ready.

She checked her mom's room, wondering if her mom had somehow fallen asleep and hadn't woken up yet. Nope, the bed was in order, all sheets and blankets neatly made, no sign anyone had slept there recently.

Secilia glanced in both her and Sasuke's rooms, finding nothing out of the ordinary, Sasuke's room with nothing on the floor, and her own, with kunai, shuriken, books, and the assorted scroll lying around. Darn, she really needed to clean up her room, but she had everything where she needed it to be. Hmph, it'd have to wait until after she finished creating her own storing seal. She'd drop by her own room to grab the stuff she needed for the second exam after she found her mom. On second thought, she might as well do it now. She had a few storage seals on her, so she might as well pack now.

She darted around her room, organizing kunai into one pile, shuriken into another, and a few books, and all her fuinjutsu stuff in one more. She sealed it all away, stuffing the scrolls in a backpack, then put the backpack on, intending to drop the backpack by the door.

She walked into the living room, having forgotten about why she'd originally been walking around the house, and flipped on the light.

(A/N) If I didn't leave you here, I'd lose such a great cliff hanger!