Shikaku's POV (Western Streets of Leaf - Hidden Leaf Village)
"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 the growths on his right side of the back fired off the 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 suddenly came before him, unleashing a body uppercut that raised him. 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 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. They look at each other for a moment before laughing at each other's state.
"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 run the family flower shop." Shikaku sniped. Despite the significant cut above his brow, he looks surprisingly fresh, 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 on 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 explosive tags attached to the shadows. With a boom, they went off. Jugo stumbled through the blast, obviously somewhat harmed. Though the burns didn't 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 a significant amount of his strength seemed to leave 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 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 he 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 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 regretfully.
"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, 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.
Gaara's POV (Trial of Janus - Land of Iron)
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 honestly, 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 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. 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 indeed powerful, and yet… he was…. different. He seemed 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 appeared 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?"
"There must be a clue, then, thank God! The second room was easy, but this has had us stuck!" Kurotsuchi complained.
"It was 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 the 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 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-upon door.
"Bout as close as we're gonna get with emo," Kurotsuchi says with a smirk as the group continues the exam.