Despite it All

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Shikaku's / Jugo's POV (West Side of Village Hidden in the Leaves)

It wasn't often Shikaku was in the field these days. It was an oddity for most clan heads. Clan politics often required him and others to work long hours and be at the home front. Perhaps that was why the monstrosity of a man they were fighting was still alive.

Shikaku started things off by firing an absurd amount of kunai towards Jugo. The insane man merely chuckled as various mounds grew on his shoulders and ankles. With a burst of chakra, he flew forward. The kunai thrown were blown back by the force of Jugo merely punching towards a smiling Shikaku. Right as his fist closed in, Jugo was grabbed by a large hand again. Choza chuckled merrily as he held the thrashing Jugo. He roared in anger, before his cries were stopped by Inochi throwing a vicious series of head kicks at the helpless Jugo.

"Rushing into the fight against the Ino-Shika-Cho formation? Unwise to say the least. At the very least I hope you reach heaven or whatever people believe these days." Shikaku stated as he lit a cigarette. As he did so Choza threw the man back. Jugo attempted to boost forward again but gasped as he was frozen again. "Shadow Sewing Jutsu." Shikaku said as pale black tendrils impaled Jugo. "It's a nasty technique I know. Runs you through and won't even let you run. Even in its weaponized form, my shadows stop movement." Jugo started flailing as the black tendrils started cracking. Before he could get much further Choza appeared from above with a smile.

"They sent some kind of rookie?! Partial Multi-Size Jutsu!" Choza roared as his legs grew to those of a giant before crushing Jugo.

"He should be done n-" "!" Choza was suddenly thrown back as a Jugo emerged covered in black markings.

"Yes! Sweet release! The curse calls! Let's kill each other like animals!" Jugo roared as Choza landed back with the three. He finished his speech as he blitzed forward, punching Choza who barely managed to raise his guard. The force still sent him flying through a building though. This left him open to a spinning elbow by Inochi and a kidney stab from Shikaku. Jugo laughed even as he spat his blood grabbing both men by the arms. But before he could continue his attack a large mailbox slammed into him. The force of which wrapped the box around his head as he slid against the ground. Before he could even get up Inochi was weaving hand signs. As Jugo rose he fired off his jutsu.

"Mind Body Switch Jutsu!" Inochi called as the jutsu hit Jugo and took affect. Jugo felt the presence of him control his body. But Inochi discovered the mind was simply too fragmented to hold. Allowing the man to remove him with accidental ease. It was only a moment, but the lapse was more than enough for shinobi of this caliber. Choza didn't bother with a jutsu instead aiming for a powerful haymaker. Even a man as strong as Jugo was knocked for a loop by the natural power of Choza. Before Jugo could recover let alone retaliate Shikaku appeared behind him channeling chakra into a kunai and slashing his Achilles tendons. Jugo collapses to his knees as a kunai Inochi has carefully fired lodges into his forehead. Shikaku and Choza mercilessly unleash dual kicks to the kunai's back ring. Sending Jugo flying in a spray of blood. Inochi calmly walks up to the two as they observe the now prone and motionless Jugo. forward. Jugo froze for a second as Inochi took over his body. Before using

"Quite a powerful fighter. Unsurprising, that the monster raised as much trouble as he did." Inochi stated as they continued to observe the corpse.

"Why did he attack though?" Choza asked with a frown. "He seemed mentally unwell, perhaps he was insane and merely rampaging?"

"He certainly wasn't intelligent, if he was we may have been in trouble," Shikaku complained. "Shouldn't have wasted the smoke on that."

Jugo's POV

Jugo stared up at the sky as they chatted. Normally they would have ensured his death but he supposed they felt no need considering the context. He was lucky to be alive. Right as the blade had been kicked a growth had grown in his forehead throwing off the aim and sparing him from having it driven through his brain. In truth, he would've preferred if he had died. He supposed this was a rare moment of mental clarity for him. His life from the start had been a tortured existence. He had gone to Orochimaru originally intending to have the man cure him of his unstable attributes. He had heard tales of the Sound accepting anyone and was determined to stop his urges. It had already cost him the lives of his family and friends. So he felt the risk was minimal. At the very least Kimimaro had shown himself able to deal with him. Able to keep him calm and withstand his rage. At first, it seemed progress was being made. His rampages became rare and even when occurring were dealt with quickly. It hadn't been a great life, but Jugo knew such things would never be better for him. Then Orochimaru turned, he found no cure for him but a supposed he deserved it. His family did believe in karma after all. The sins he committed, the people killed by his hands just trying to struggle in a harsh world. He supposed he outlived his luck and now he was being punished for his sins. He had outlived his usefulness. Orochimaru made him worse, undeniably powerful, but the murderous rages became the norm. His lucidity fading like the autumn leaves. He supposed most would've rebelled but he knew there was little point. Orochimaru was too powerful and cunning for him to escape. And he deserved this fate. He was being given the only freedom, life could offer a man like him. A man bathed in misery such as he could offer the world one mercy.

To be exterminated as the monster he was.

A final wish perhaps, he could not choose how he lived his life, but he could dictate how he died.

He allowed nature's energy to flow into him. Healing his gruesome wounds and refueling him. Perhaps Orochimaru had manipulated him, perhaps he never intended to cure him. It mattered little to him truly, the man whether it was for his gain or not had granted him peace. His murderous rampages for a while had been contained; he had even befriended Kimimaro. For him, it was more than enough for him to die this way. To let his miserable life end, it may as well favor the man who had gotten him this far. He briefly considered fighting with his sanity intact but dismissed the option. He doubted he would be given a painless death. Instead, he grabbed a syringe loader with the compound that had gotten him to this point. It was almost comical how much he hated it. Yet even as it took his final moments from him as he injected it. He felt such a satisfying rush go through him. Alarming the three enemies that their foe wasn't done. Jugo had hated his life. He only hoped they killed him before he could kill anyone else.

Shikaku, Choza, and Inochi flinched at the burst of chakra from Jugo. It had nearly doubled! His skin darkened and bulged as his form morphed. The trio was stunned by the horrific transformation. His teeth elongated and more pointed. His hair grew longer and more wildly haphazardly flowing in all directions.. Six growths protruded from his back in a conical shape. The same on his ankles and several even marred on his face. He roared angrily as black marks spread onto his face. Veins protruding from the muscular freak he towered over them nearly double their size .

"I think a rematch is due!" He roared charging forward. Choza and Inochi met this charge as Shikaku stayed back looking for an opening. Choza met Jugo with an enlarged kick. Jugo caught this with ease and chucked the large man back. He ignored Inochi slashing at his neck, the kunai breaking. Half of the growths on his right side of the back fired off chakra allowing the man to spin quickly. Inochi managed to raise his guard but was rag-dolled by the vicious blow. The spinning overhand smashed into his double guard. Crashing into the ground with the shattering of concrete. Jugo smiled as he prepared to finish him off before freezing.

"Shadow Pos-" Shikaku was interrupted as Jugo was suddenly before him unleashing a body uppercut that raised him into the air. Jugo grabbed Shikaku by the leg slamming him bodily into the ground. He raised a fist to crush his skull but caught a ginormous foot directly in the face. The blow sent him careening through several houses. A giant Choza chased after the man but stopped when Jugo suddenly flew upwards punching the giant in the face. Choza stumbled back but fired a giant-sized uppercut. The smaller Jugo flew upwards.

"Payback time pipsqueak!" He hollered as he let loose with his hands. Sending a giant-sized barrage of punches in such a way as to keep Jugo airborne. The crazed man held up his guard as if intending to block the crushing blows. But the cries of pain from Jugo made it a clearly doomed effort. Inoichi and Shikaku shakingly got to their feet. Looking at each other for a moment before laughing at the state of each other.

"You old deer-loving geezer. Maybe you should sit on the sideline while the real men fight." Inochi laughed, somehow ignoring his broken ribs.

"You troublesome bastard. You look worse than me, maybe you should go run the family flower shop." Shikaku sniped. He looks surprisingly fresh despite the large cut above his brow painting his face red. Both flinched and jumped back as a normal-sized Choza landed before them. Breaking the ground beneath him from the impact.

"I hate these types, it's like fighting a baby jinchuuriki." Choza complained. "Any idea how to keep him down? He seems to tank punches that can break down mountains!"

"Ya, I got something it's not gonna be fun though." Shikaku informed as he formed hand signals. Right then a smiling and bloody Jugo flew towards the three. Inochi launched himself forward, landing a flying kick. But Jugo merely plowed through, sending the Yamanaka tumbling away. Choza shot off a large fist and Juzo met it with his own. The blow sent Choza stumbling back crying out in pain. Several shadows slammed into Jugo attempting to spear him again but they shattered upon contact. Jugo attempted to push his advantage but failed to see the litany of explosive tags that had been attached to the shadows. With a boom, they went off. Jugo stumbled through the blast, obviously somewhat harmed. Though the burns didn't seem to bother him much. He growled as Choza suddenly ran him over in human boulder form. Jugo attempted to rise but was grabbed by various shadowy hands. "Shadow Hands of the Damned!" Jugo slowly was prying them off as Choza came back around at tremendous speed. The speeding ball of a man smashed into Jugo sending him flying down the street. He growled as he rose.

"LET ME KILL YOU ALREADY!" He roared as he prepared to engage the two again. But froze as a voice called out.

"Emotional Supressal Jutsu!" Inochi called out as Jugo's furious face relaxed. His rage seemed to melt. His skin grew lighter. His chakra dimmed as it seemed a significant amount of his strength left his body. He seemed shocked looking at himself in disbelief.

He looked up at Inochi in awe. "T-Thank you…" As he said this several threads of darkness pierced his body, raising him into the air as the orange-haired man was peppered by the sharp shadows. He coughed out a large amount of blood almost surely unable to breathe. Shikaku approached him as he lit another cigarette.

"I'm sure you have your own story. With how tortured you seem I'm sure you suffered more than most. Unfortunately," Shikaku pulled a kunai and fired into the chest of the crying and smiling Jugo. "You can't be forgiven for your crimes simply because you had it rough." He lectured morosely as looked Jugo in the eye. "How sad, it seems like he almost wanted this."

Jugo, unable to speak or perhaps unwilling, simply nodded. The light left his eyes as he died with a smile. For the first and last time in his life, he experienced peace.

"We're getting too old for this." Inochi complained. "We're lucky we found that his emotions were tied to his power or we would've been in a worse state."

"You mean Shika did!" Choza corrected.

"We're lucky my hunch was right, the mark looked similar to a mark given to Anko from Orochimaru. From the study, we found out it's named the curse mark and it's tied to emotional state. So if we take the negative ones."

"He'd become a shell of himself power-wise. A definite loose cannon, I suppose the snake chose well. Low cost and potential benefit of discrediting the leaf. We'd be laughing stalks of the ninja world if some nobody came in and did massive damage." Inochi figured.

"He got some before we got here." Choza said with regret.

"All we can do is be more prepared. We can't rewind time due to grief. Send a messenger bird out to inform The Third Hokage. It's time to go on lockdown. I want a report on the man in the east too. I sent some reliable men to help out the old habanero." As Shikaku gave orders as the other two raced off. He knew being the Jounin Commander would be a lot of work. He should've just been lazy in life. Damn Yoshiko, love always did make things troublesome.

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Gaara's POV (Trial of Janus Building)

Gaara knew he would participate in the coming exams. Even with the nationwide delay he knew his time would come. In truth, he cared little for the gain of the Sand Village. It was his home only in name and memory. He had been ostracized, assaulted, and hated. It had warped his mind in ways he knew were unorthodox. But truly he felt it was unavoidable. Even as a child, he had been odd. The monster inside of him took over when he slept. As such he didn't sleep often. Most nights he merely sat alone. Trying desperately to ignore the lonely nature of his existence. His father accused him of being insane. He supposed that was fair enough; he certainly didn't feel very sane. At first, he assumed that violence would free him. His existence was marked by the murder of those he deemed worthy. For years it worked but it was an empty passion. It cured not his pain nor his reputation. But he could not let go of his detest of humans; they simply were hateful and hypocritical. It took a textbook discovered in his mother's old room that had changed this thought process. Sure killing was a temporary fix for his grief but in truth he wanted companionship. He had learned he was one of nine other sacrifices. They could understand his plight. They had access to the power he had. They had suffered as he had! But he couldn't befriend just anyone. Some did not have the strength to survive as he did. If so he would spare them from the suffering of living. As such the Chunin Exams proved to be a great opportunity in that way. He cared little for glory or a promotion; he merely took the chance to meet the others.

He eyed Naruto as he and Ino looked at the note both seeming to not be able to understand it. Yet it seemed they were determined to. Kurotsuchi was examining the walls. Looking for some kind of secret. He knew they wished for his assistance but he would not offer it to the filthy humans. But the Uzumaki was different; he was one of them. He had intended to test him lightly and the blonde had passed it.

He was surely powerful and yet… he was…. different. He seemed to be close to the female blonde; she seemed to hover protectively around him most of the time. It was laughable, the girl wouldn't last very long against him nor would her teammate. He had even seemed to befriend the other blonde woman Samui. It made no sense to him, from what he read all jinchuriki were detested. Yet he seemed accepted at least by the two. He could see a familiar look in his eyes. The dark path of loneliness, the pain of missing someone you hardly knew. But, somehow the blonde's eyes shined despite it. They seemed hopeful and determined. It perplexed him. It made him stop from enacting his plan to help the blonde and enlist him. The fool seemed fond of humans. Too forgiving likely.

He couldn't let humans close. They were untrustworthy creatures unfitting of ones such as him and Naruto. For now, he would observe. Perhaps he would force the Uzumaki to see the world as he did. Jinchuriki only had each other after all.

"Guys I noticed something cool." Samui said in a matter-of-fact tone. "This painting has some kind of riddle in it."

"Riddle?" Naruto questioned as he and Ino walked over. "What's it say?"

"Must be a clue then, thank god! The second room was easy but this has had us stuck!" Kurotsuchi complained.

"It was only easy because you guessed it before we could debate it." Ino remarked annoyed.

"Gotta trust your gut!" Kurotsuchi said happily.

"Anyway," Samui interrupted. "It reads. "I always go to the right. But never to the left. What am I?"

"I guess samurai like riddles." Ino pondered. "The answer is clock right? Because the hands move to the right only?"

"It has to be." Naruto filled in.

"So…" Kurotsuchi wondered out loud. She eyed the room and saw an analog clock stashed above the door frame. A bit difficult to spot unless one knew to look for it. The old analog clock had the incorrect time all hands on one. "It must be right then since the clock hands are pointing that way."

"Plus the poem had the word as well." Naruto added. "Twice is a sure sign shinobi don't believe in coincidences, after all, ya know?"

"Cool, so we're decided." Samui asked. The four nodded yes and looked towards Gaara who was already walking to the decided door.

"Bout as close as we're gonna get with emo." Kurotsuchi says with a smirk as the group continues the exam.

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With Naruto shocking him by defeating him and the harsh training Kakashi had prepared for them, Neji figured the exams would be harder. He supposed it was luck of the draw but his team was nearly perfect for such an exam. Even Kiba had found a clue in a painting by accident. Sakura was so observant he thought she may very well could even have had a secret Byakugan. Temari had proven to be shrewd and intelligent. While the Nara seemed to be a genius in his own right. It was helpful undeniably, but it was also humbling. He supposed when they called him a genius they meant a genius of combat, not one of intellect. They had proceeded quickly through the rooms seemingly having no trouble finding clues. Even less so since they had a mental map guiding them. Thanks to the enigmatic Shikamaru. The last room was easy enough. It seemed the structure was one of nine rooms. And based on the mental map of Shikamaru they were wrapped back around and the door across was the correct one.

"We could send someone as a risk to make sure of it." Temari had offered quickly being glared down for the suggestion.

"Treehuggers." She snorted as she walked through the doors. As they did they were now outside. Several samurai standing in a crowd. Stables were erected as well all before a medium-sized shack outfitted with comfortable furniture for both Kage.

"Congratulations, I guess, don't know that intro seems dull." A voice added. The five Genin turn they see a dark-skinned man wrapped in a coat with blonde hair facing them. "My name is Darui and I am the proctor of the second test. This is dubbed "The Trial of Nio". Rest for now, the test won't begin for a while. Even once the last team finishes you all will be given an hour to rest." He explained as he walked away from the group following. Darui led them to a large tent containing padded resting places. A campfire inside with a hole at the top to let the smoke escape. "Rest here. You'll need it." He said simply. Walking away from the group to another tent holding Jounin inside of it.

Neji supposed he had beaten the others here… Naruto would not be allowed to forget this.