A/N: You can thank "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure" for this pilot episode. Ripple powers and Stands may or may not exist. In any case, as usual for my pilot episodes, your reviews will tell me if this idea is worth pursuing in the future; so do read and review, would you kindly?

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[Underground ROOT base]

The steady 'beep-beep' of diagnostic equipment could be heard, mingling with scribbling from paper-based graphing machines. All of it was hooked up to a stone column with the lifelike carving of a fit young boy around twelve years old, and large UV lights shining on it. Even the single fibers of his hair were intricately carved into the stone with exacting detail. The biggest details that stood out about the boy, aside from his developing muscles, would be three whisker-marks on each cheek, and the curved horns protruding from his forehead equidistant from each other above each eyebrow.

As he looked on at the scene before him, Danzo could not help but admire the work of art. It would've been better if his men didn't have to wear HAZMAT suits around the statue. After what happened on the day that he brought this column into the base, even he wouldn't go within touching distance of that sculpture without one. Even with the UV lights on, there was no guarantee that he would not be in danger;on occasion, he had to watch as a few ROOT operatives had accidentally made skin contact with the column, and were absorbed instantly.

Still, it was a sight to behold. Every detail on the column was meticulous and lifelike; every muscle was believable, every proportion was correct, and even the whisker-marks on the face seemed to stretch and contract with the skin. It was hard to believe that that sculpture was once a human boy by the name of Uzumaki Naruto.

Yes, Danzo knew that the boy in the sculpture was once alive; after all, he was the one who put him in that situation. His rival, Sarutobi Hiruzen would've had a conniption if he ever found out that he forced a kekkei genkai to awaken in the boy. He'd gotten reports from his ROOT operatives that day saying that the mob that he incited to murder the boy were killed when they were all absorbed into his body though some unknown process. By the time morning had come, all the civilians were gone, the only evidence of their existence being their clothes that littered the ground…and the boy was found in his current state.

Sadly, some regular ANBU had seen this happen, and had reported to Hiruzen about what happened. Fortunately, his own operatives were on the scene, and were able to take the statue away without making skin contact with it. Anyone left behind had disguised themselves as Kumo shinobi, and then left a false lead for the operatives that would investigate this. It did not mean that they could be careless, as any slip in security would have his ROOT bases suffering the same fate as Orochimaru's labs.

In all honesty, Danzo wanted to see what else the boy could do apart from melting people away and absorbing their bodies into his own. However, therein lay the problem: the statue was alive, as the machines could attest to. It was discovered on accident that he still had a fully-functional chakra system, and that he could still absorb people even in his statuesque form. The readings seemed to fluctuate in a manner similar to how emotions change, and this was in response to everything that was said around the column. That, and he'd been having a bad feeling whenever he neared the statue for some reason; like the boy was plotting to have his revenge for what he did to him.

"Has anyone been near him?" Danzo asked an operative that stood nearby. He had no idea when or how the boy would get his revenge, he just knew that it would be inevitable. This was why he'd taken so many precautions to ensure the boy never awoke without arousing Hiruzen's suspicions…going so far as to order independent power generators to ensure that nobody else knew where his base was.

"Just Nezumi and Usagi," answered the operative, "They're probably the only people that statue won't absorb."

Danzo's functional eye had gone on down to the newest members of ROOT as they both caressed the statue's cheeks. The two of them were twin sisters born roughly three minutes apart. Were it not for his intervention, the two of them would've been unable to grow in their own clan. Luckily, nobody had caught his operatives succeeding where that idiotic Kumo ambassador failed, much less one-up the fool. How that man made it as a ROOT mole, Danzo never did find out; neither did he care. He was just glad that he now had more operatives with Kekkei Genkai that he could harvest later on.

The younger twin Usagi was the more energetic sister, with a certain level of aggression that was just waiting to burst out. Very few things would calm this stick of dynamite down; her older sister being one of them. Her aggression was so powerful that few could match up to her in skill. In fact, he'd seen Usagi speeding through a hallway of well-trained operatives, disabling them and then leaving them to die slowly and silently. If Danzo ever needed someone to work on a cleanup crew, a heavy assault mission, or to assassinate multiple targets, he could make Usagi do the job.

On the other hand, Nezumi had proven to be a very capable kunoichi under his tutelage. While she lacked the killer instinct and aggression of her younger sister, she was not to be trifled with. Shy like her namesake, Nezumi rarely ever did any harm; normally fighting to injure and killing only when her sister was threatened. That, and she had displayed a natural talent in the healing arts that he'd only ever seen in Senju Tsunade. Because of this, she earned the title of 'Mother Mouse' and was popular with a lot of the other operatives.

A part of Danzo hated himself for trying again and again to break those girls, but the needs of the village outweighed theirs. Perhaps they would be the key to his rise to become Hokage, and to remake Konoha in his image. If he could just examine Uzumaki's body and figure out just what makes his kekkei genkai tick, he could give Orochimaru more material to work with on his next commission. Maybe he can get their kekkei genkai while he's at it.

"It disturbs me that they're the only ones that can touch the statue," says the operative. "Everyone else has been eaten by it."

"And yet, they are still an invaluable tool in trying to unlock the mystery behind Uzumaki's kekkei genkai." replied Danzo. "If we're lucky, we'll be able to have them safely extract him from that column, and send him off to Orochimaru to…"

{"Awaken" from "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Part II: Battle Tendency"}

A shocked scream was heard. Danzo caught a glimpse of something from the corner of his eye that brought up his blood pressure. Nezumi had grabbed a nearby technician, kicked him in the groin, ripped off the headgear of his HAZMAT suit, grabbed his arm, smashed his head into the statue and pressing his face into it. The poor soul was absorbed into the statue instantly, screaming in agony as his body melted and was pulled out from his suit and into the statue.

While it didn't show under his coldness, it was clear that Danzo was looking on in horror. What's wrong with them?! Have Nezumi and Usagi turned traitor?!

"Lock down the room!" Danzo cried out, "Everyone! Nezumi and Usagi have turned traitor! Kill them now!"

That shout had sent everyone, even the technicians on a rampage to kill Nezumi and her sister as soon as the doors slammed shut. However, the rogue ROOT operatives had used their Jūken specialty to disable all the oncoming operatives, remove their HAZMAT helmets and press their faces into the statue. It was at this point that Danzo finally realized what they were doing: every victim of skin contact with Uzumaki was first injected with digestive fluids released from the boy's cells, then they were absorbed into his body for nourishment. The two fools were feeding him Danzo's agents, and were very likely going to wake him up.

Once the rest of the lab was cleared, save for Danzo and his bodyguards, Usagi and Nezumi both smashed the bare faces of two more ROOT operatives into the statue. Their voices were synchronized as they spoke. "Now! Awaken my master!"

The operatives screamed once more as their bodies melted, pulled out of their clothes and getting sucked in to become the next meal. Within seconds, the sound of cracking could be heard from the statue. The stone exploded, revealing soft flesh beneath as Uzumaki was freed from his imprisonment and in all his naked glory. He dropped to the floor, landing on his feet before standing back up to regard Danzo with a glare, keeping focus even as he cracked his neck and stretched his back. "It's been quite a few years, but now I'm back." he finally said, "And I see that the old Warhawk is still alive."

"You're not leaving unscathed, Uzumaki," said Danzo, unsealing the doors behind him. The second the blast doors were opened, ROOT operatives began pouring through in droves. Some of them were nervous, others had a calm bloodthirst about them, but all of them were waiting on Danzo's order to attack. They needed to exercise caution lest they be 'eaten' by Naruto, which is why they all wore thick suits of flexible armor to minimize direct skin contact; and some of them carried man-portable UV lights for good measure.

"Lord Naruto, we humbly ask that you do not kill everyone in this compound," Nezumi said, readying kunai this time. "Some of these shinobi are on our side."

"You needn't tell me that. I already know who I should be sparing." As he spoke, Naruto continued stretching his body to complete flexibility. "It's just that my first target is undoubtedly going to be the Warhawk up there."

"Come and get me then," Danzo challenged. "I doubt even one with a kekkei genkai as deadly as yours could wade through so many ROOT operatives."

Naruto had vanished in a blur that swerved and ducked under multiple swings; his movements seem geared towards their arms, especially the ROOT operatives with UV lights. By the time he was done moving, many of the operatives found that even they were not immune to the effects of horror; as they found that their hands were all fused together somehow. Danzo could feel their panic as they tried in vain to pull themselves free. One of the operatives with a fused hand turned just in time to see Naruto driving a finger into his skull before the world blackened and he was absorbed into Naruto, along with his comrades.

The only operatives in the room that survived this horror show were presumably the traitors. Usagi and Nezumi were the most prominent of them all, and it was very likely that they were the ones responsible for this little rebellion. Danzo needed to put this down before it got any worse. If Uzumaki had to die for him to enforce order, then so be it; it was a shame and a waste of such a potentially useful kekkei genkai, but sacrifices needed to be made for his vision of Konoha. Besides, he could always do to Tsunade what he did to the boy and activate her Uzumaki kekkei genkai.

"Man those guys tasted nasty," said Naruto, mocking Danzo, "I don't know what's up with them, but for some reason, your ROOT operatives taste like shit. Maybe because you're full of shit."

"Watch yourself boy," Danzo snarled, "I can still destroy you."

"Try me old man," Naruto taunted, twisting his arms taut, "You're not going to get very far."

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A/N: Short, but what did you expect from a pilot episode? In any case, do please leave a review would you kindly? Your reviews will determine if this is an idea worth pursuing.

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Vocabulary/References:

Usagi─the Japanese word for 'rabbit'.

Nezumi─the Japanese word for 'rat' or 'mouse', but I'm going for the latter here.