A/N: I feel like this is basically a chapter about news, so may as well make it as quick as possible.
First of all, thanks again to everyone who's read and enjoyed my work. I have a lot more planned, so enjoy yourselves as we continue to the end of the Chūnin Exams!
Second, the personal. I've got more obligations this summer than expected, and they're irregular. Thus, some weeks may end up going without a single update. To make up for this, I'll be updating as frequently as I can—thus, updates will become more frequent but less regular, if that makes any sense. For example, I may update four times one week and then one time the next.
Third, Kuroi Unmei. Unmei is a canon character. He is not, however, a character originally from Naruto, and his appearance has changed somewhat from its original appearance. I'll leave my explanation of the character at that for now.
And with that, let's continue toward the end of the exams!

Dust blew up around the tunnels. The sky brightened, the red sun shining and throwing light upon the statues. The former Hokage shone in the deep red light, their stone faces reflecting and mirroring the crimson light.

Kōju rapidly prostrated herself on the ground. "Sorry, Kuroi-san! Are we late?"

Sasuke's body shuddered in terror.

"Nah. You're right on time." The man grinned as he looked upward at the three. A weather-beaten face, eyes violet like deep amethysts, black hair like ravens' wings, inspected each in turn. "Uzumaki Naruto, Hatake Kōju, Uchiha Sasuke. Looks about right…"

Naruto's eyes narrowed. So those two respect this guy a lot, huh… But everybody's vulnerable to the Sexy Technique! I'll beat him and prove I'm better! "Harem Technique!" he declared, clapping his fingers together.

A variety of Naruto lookalikes appeared around Naruto, each appearing female and with a variety of appearances from dusky skin to bright eyes.

"How's that, huh?" Naruto demanded triumphantly.

The female clones reached upward, beginning to unbutton the trench coat.

Unmei's eyes narrowed. One eyebrow twitched.

Kōju swallowed. "Er… I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it, sir…"

Sasuke gritted her teeth. What an idiot!

"Needs some work, doesn't it, kid?" Unmei stated in a calm voice.

Naruto blinked in confusion. "Eh? What are you talking about?"

The other two members of Team Seven tilted their heads to one side.

"You got smoke coverin' up all the naughty bits, when you should have a fully functional body. To be honest, I made a technique like that a while ago… Seduction Technique." Unmei's hands reached upward, clapping together. Smoke surrounded Unmei's body.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock.

A woman stood motionless, smirking in a distinctly sultry way. Her finger reached into her mouth as the long coat blew back in the wind, revealing pale skin beneath.

"Wow," Naruto uttered faintly before blood rocketed out of his nostrils.

Kōju's eyes formed small hearts. I could just eat her straight up! Straightaway, too…
Blood cascaded from her nostrils, covering her robes.

Sasuke's finger reached upward, wiping away a drop of blood from her nose. "…Somehow I feel disillusioned. Are you just here to greet everyone?" she muttered.

"You could say that. I wanted to take a look at you all, too." Unmei returned to his original form, clapping his hands together again. He smirked. "There are three corridors ahead. Everyone takes one path and follows it till its end. Good luck… You're going to need all the luck you can get, after all. The rules will be explained in there." He tipped his fingers to the group, his face smiling broadly.

Naruto, Kōju, and Sasuke hurried into the room.

A cold wind blew through the metal enclosure.

Naruto shivered. He suddenly realized how tight an enclosure the cage was, after all. The air darkened as the sun dipped toward the horizon.

"Guys…" Kōju's voice tentatively rose. "Sasuke-chan, Naruto-kun. No matter what, I want you to promise me something, all right? We're a team. We're friends. We won't abandon each other, right?" Her voice quavered as she extended her arm.

"What do you think, dumbass?" Sasuke remarked coolly. She patted Kōju on the back. "Everyone makes it out all right, or no one does. I'm guessing it's another arena…"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. We fight as a team, or we don't fight at all."

"Well, we can't fight as a team. What I mean is, will you support me in all things?"

"Not all things. But we'll support you in this battle. Don't worry. We'll help you." Sasuke bowed her head slightly. She sighed. "God, I sound like an idiot. Talking about friendship and—"

"It's okay to like having friends, Sasuke-chan."

Naruto turned. "Everyone—no matter what, we stand together."

The three fighters walked down separate passageways.

Naruto stepped into a place so black he couldn't see his own hand in front of his face. He turned in a circle.

A wall stopped Naruto's hand.

Huh?! Naruto blinked in shock. He frowned. The same metal…

Suddenly, the floor gave way.

The earth crumbled beneath Naruto's feet.

Naruto reached upward, his eyes widening.

The earth shifted.

A tunnel formed beneath the space.

Naruto slid downward, helplessly reaching up to find a handhold.

The passage beneath the earth denied Naruto even this.

Naruto gasped as he slid into a space.

"Good morning!" a tinny voice remarked, the voice echoing through the dark space.

Naruto scowled.

A yellow light ignited on the dashboard.

"Please take a look at the light on your elevator. If your light is yellow, you are a 'sheep'. If your light is red, you are a 'wolf'."

Naruto studied the light, his eyebrow rising.

"Please press one or the other."

After a moment, Naruto pressed the yellow light.

"Congratulations! Welcome to the game of Wolf and Sheep. The rules of the game are simple and elegant." The tinny voice grew warmer. "In every room, there are nine 'sheep' and one 'wolf'. The 'wolf' will begin killing 'sheep'… Well, naturally, it's only getting knocked out of the running. Still, only three people can make it through at most…"

Exam

Sasuke scowled. "Hmph." She sighed after a moment. "I guess I'm not passing. Worth a try, though."

Exam

"…The match will take place in nine rounds. Each round, the person with the 'wolf' will attempt to find the 'sheep' to remove that round. The surrounding 'sheep' must vote on who they believe to be the 'wolf' each round. The 'wolf's job is to hide themselves efficiently…" The voice crackled. "That's all. Good luck."

Kōju's eyebrows furrowed. She stared into the darkness. "…I really should have trained my intelligence-gathering skills," she fretted.

Exam

Unmei's lips curled upward. "This exam is going to be damn interesting. Now who will realize the sheep… and the wolf, I wonder?"

Exam

Naruto sat down. The round's begun…

The ten figures gathered.

Hisame looked upward, a smile forming beneath the respirator. She coughed quietly.

"…There's another victory condition the old man didn't mention."

Naruto blinked.

Kankurō glanced around the room. "I'm bringing it up only because I figure we'll have better odds with opponents of the 'wolf' in the room better informed. The simple fact of the matter is that the 'wolf' has to reach your security first."

"Our security?!" Naruto glanced downward.

"In that little tube you got a thing implanted into you." Kankurō grinned. "If you can't figure even that out, then you don't deserve to be a chūnin."

Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"To get to that, they have to use their own weapon, a laser thing. Once that beep goes off, it's ended. The 'wolf' has taken their victim. If, on the other hand, you escape, you get a good chance."

"That's true."

"Also, the 'winners' of the game could be up to twenty-seven or higher. We take the preliminary round of victory for now. If we get the wolf in one go—"

"Sorry, but it doesn't work like that." Hisame coughed.

"What do you know about it?"

"I looked at the instructions." Hisame raised the piece of paper.

Kankurō frowned.

Rōha blinked.

"The rounds aren't 'elimination rounds'; they're safety rounds. In other words, we vote on who's safe. We vote on who isn't the wolf."

"Ridiculous!"

"It's back in those tubes there."

Naruto frowned. The voice said different… They lied to us! What a backstabbing thing to do!

Hisame smiled. She sat down in the iron chair. "At any rate, the first round is likely to be completely random. We don't have any information about each other. Consequently, it's likely that two people will end up being tied for being 'safe'."

The fingers extended.

"Ugh. How irritating." Suigetsu showed his sharpened teeth. "So in other words, what you're saying is that the first round someone's going out? At least one of us?"

"Actually… it's probably more than one."

Suigetsu blinked.

The others gasped.

"It's your own assumption that it can only be done once a round. But there's no guarantee of that."

…I see. Roha cleared her throat. "In that case, let's go vote, shall we?"

The tables rose from the space.

"Voting complete."

Roha sat down in her chair.

The buttons glowed.

"Now then, let's move along. Everyone retires to their rooms."

"How can we trust that sheet?"

Hisame held up the sheet. "You can all take a look at it if you like." She passed it around the table.

The buttons glimmered.

Kankurō scowled. "…Looks official," he muttered after a moment. He handed it back to Hisame.

Naruto stood up. "I definitely won't go out this early!" He slammed his hand down on the table.

The red buttons lit.

The group retired swiftly.

Exam

The viewing screen glimmered.

"…That's an innovative tactic." Unmei smiled. "Making a fake set of rules, then disguising it with genjutsu…"

"It can't last too long." Sarutobi sighed, rubbing his beard.

"Not forever, certainly," the Kazekage agreed.

"Still…" Unmei smiled. "About two rounds is all she needs."

"Eh?"

"No… maybe less than that." Unmei paused. "Sarutobi-jii. You should see it too by now…"

"…Ah. Because of the ties, at least two people can be knocked out each round. If she goes for an extra, it could go up to three. With four people remaining…"

"Too many suspicions. She's got a pass to the final round." The Kazekage smirked. "Really, really interesting…"

With that, that kid's out. A pity… I kind of wanted to see how Naruto-san would do, but this strategy doesn't leave room for retreat or refuge in foolishness. Unmei smirked. It's tenacious and intelligent. A good bluff in which the obviously innocent are removed from play, leaving only those who might have sinned… A blade of smoke, striking through defenses and piercing through the heart of the opponent. A world of that type is fairly desired in a shinobi's thoughts. He paused. Well, that concludes that round one. I wonder how things are going on the other side of that wall. He pressed a button.

Flames rose across the floor.

Exam

The metal melted.

"I've said it clearly already, haven't I? I am the wolf. You've got your target." Chinmoku smiled.

The flames rose around the body.

White-hot flames surrounded the fingers, circles of flame like haloes of the sun.

Who the hell would say that?

"Place your votes." Chinmoku smirked.

He's in a partnership with the real one. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Well, I can't say who it is… But the wolf would never announce that they are the wolf. It's nicely done.

…He's not working with me at all! Asahi turned her gaze sideways.

Temari met the gaze levelly. Her palms sweated. How long is it going to take…? Gaara, keep it together…

A boy with a respirator adjusted his mask. Well, Hisame-san can make it to the finals without me so it should be fine.

"Everyone voted?"

He took himself completely off the table. It's an incredibly direct yet simple move… Asahi gritted her teeth. That bastard's really smart. Anyone who does it now just looks like they're copying him… I wish I'd thought of it first!

The red buttons glimmered.

Well, there's nothing to do now but wait for the next round…

Chinmoku's lips curved upward. That is to say, I'm aware of it. However, what I want is to knock off the strong competitors, one by one. In this way I can win without revealing too much.

The headband glowed white-hot.

But if that's not possible… I suppose I'll settle for removing the wolf this first round of ours.

The jacket glimmered.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Showy bastard.

"Let's retire, then…"

The crimson flames faded.

The smoke dissipated.

That guy… would probably prove problematic for the plan. Temari's eyes narrowed.

Kabuto pushed up his glasses on his nose. Hopefully everyone keeps their head about them. The plan will go fine if everyone is careful about how they act…

Exam

"Right. I think that leads into the last room…"

The viewing screen turned black.

Unmei's eyes widened.

Sand flew across the screen.

Shivering, a white-haired girl backed up against the wall, her sword grasped. "I…I'm not afraid of you!"

Blood covered the ground.

"Not… at all!"

A growl echoed from the darkness.

"Get going. Sarutobi, go now." Unmei's eyes blazed.

Sarutobi's eyes widened. "Can't you do it?"

"My techniques are meant to take lives, not preserve them. Or has the Professor grown too old?"

Sarutobi vanished in a flash.

The Kazekage reached downward.

Unmei's eyes narrowed.

"This proposed idea for an exam has turned that place into a charnel house, hasn't it?" the Kazekage questioned with practiced indifference. He suddenly spun, grasping a kunai.

A long black sword blocked the strike. Unmei scowled, grasping the sword tightly. "So this is your work…"

The face smiled.

"Orochimaru."

"I hope you're prepared for the results of your actions." Orochimaru smirked.

"I am prepared?!" Unmei laughed, his eyes wild and wide.