AN: So, I got tired of waiting for inspiration to strike. This here one-shot a poem that my sister, Awesomeness Incarnate, wrote and gave to me a semi-long time ago. It fits Alex (or at least mine) so well it's scary. This is a sort-of spoiler for the end of CoG: NOT, so be warned!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Prototype, or even this poem. The latter belongs to my sister.

An Ode to Alex Mercer

A white void surrounded the two. On one side was a man in a black jacket, emblazoned with a red tribal marking on the back and a hood that shielded his eyes, which stared impassively at his adversary. He was a man who was single-handedly responsible for the destruction of his own world, had traveled for tens of thousands of years accumulating power, and had found life in each universe. He was known as Zeus, and Konoha no Kokushibyou, but most importantly Alex Mercer.

Across from him stood another man. He was dressed in an orange vest, with a dark blue hooded sweatshirt underneath. His own blue and brown eyes stared back, determined. He was younger than Alex, with blond hair and whisker marks on his cheeks. He was known as the Rokudaime Hokage, and Konoha no Kokutan Densen. He was the successor to the man before him. His name was Uzumaki Naruto.

Alex had been a mentor of sorts to Naruto after giving him the abilities he himself had, teaching him how to protect those close to him and making sure he never went down the path to becoming a monster like Alex had been in his early life. However, their companionship had been divided by a word. A single, unfortunate word that forced Alex to turn his back on those who had once trusted him. He had joined the enemy, launching devastating attacks on the Allied Shinobi Forces. At the end Naruto, his student, confronted him.

Their battle was felt for miles in all directions as two titanic forces collided again and again. Alex with the power his Quarantine, and Naruto with all the skill he possessed as a Sage and Jinchuuriki. In the end, though, Naruto got in his best shot, draining all of the power out of Alex.

By some distortion in the universe, they were granted a chance to say some last few words to each other.

They stared for another moment. Then Alex sighed, conveying millennia of exhuastion without a word as he closed his eyes. "So...this is what losing's like. I'd forgotten the feeling."

Naruto smiled tightly. "I'm pretty aquainted with it myself. I didn't want to prove Kakashi-sensei wrong. You're the previous generation; time to let the next one take over now."

Alex also smiled, chuckling. "Once you joing the Gormim, things like 'generation' will lose quite a lot of their meaning. Still..." he ran a hand through his hair under the hood, "I feel my strength will be well spent by you. I mean, it's not like I won't get it back once I reincarnate. As it stands, I feel that my journeying days have gone on long enough."

Naruto's eyes widened, but then he bowed slightly. "Thank you," he said.

The elder Blacklight waved him off, but started walking towards him. He held out a hand, meaning for Naruto to shake it. "In my mind...there were always these scraps of paper," he said, "They always had something written on them: things that the Voice would say, random sayings I'd heard before, stuff like that. But one day, when I started traveling, I found a complete sheet of paper. Written on it was something I'd never seen before, but I somehow knew what it was."

"What was it?" As he took the hand, Naruto felt something press into his own. He looked down as Alex pulled away and saw a rolled up sheet of paper, along with a small black ball.

"You'll see," said Alex, walking away, "It'll all make sense after you take me in." After a certain distance, he stopped. "Naruto...after this, you will achieve the peace that Jiraiya wanted. A great Peace always comes after a great Calamity, which I- we -certainly brought upon the world. But be warned, Naruto: Just as 'peace' comes after 'calamity,' so must 'calamity' come after 'peace.' Peace can be achieved, but it will never last forever.

This time, he didn't stop; he kept walking, the white distance swallowing him up. "We won't be seeing each other again for a long time, Naruto. For now, this is goodbye."

He was gone.

Naruto stared after him for another long while. Finally, he wiped away the tears on his face and lifted up the biomass pill. "Well...Ittadakimasu," he said quietly. He tossed the sphere into his mouth and bit down.

[A week later]

Naruto sat in his bedroom, staring out the window at the sunset. The light against the sky was a glorious orange, yellow and gold. Compared to the woman next to him, it was pretty decent.

"Something on your mind, Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata.

He blinked and looked at her. "Ah...yeah, sorry!" he laughed, scratching his head, "It's just...it's hard to believe he's gone, you know? I mean," he tapped his temple, "He's in here, still, but it's an imprint; memories." Suddenly, he sat up straighter as he remembered something. "Ah, I can't believe I forgot that!" He sprang off the bed and over to where his vest hung by the door. He pulled out a rolled up piece of paper and walked back over to the bed lying down across it. "He told me that he found this in his mind when he started traveling," he told the blue-haired young woman, "But he knew what it was..." He looked down at the paper as he unrolled it and started reading.

Hinata shifted as her husband stared at the paper for several moments, then jumped as he suddenly cackled with laughter. "What is it?" she asked quickly.

It took a second for his laughter to quiet down to giggles. "Heh," he chuckled, "It's a poem. A poem that tells the unlucky bastard who finally manages to consume him what to expect."

She cocked her head. "What does it say?"

Smiling, Naruto read it out loud for her:

When you come to bear the weight
Of all my thoughts and sighs
How heavy they will seem to you
My lifetime's worth of lies

You will take the burden I have
Shouldered all my life
Experience my memories
And live through all my strife

When I will depart from you
I'll leave you here to gasp
At the crushing weights and blows-
Insanity you'll grasp

And I will turn my back on you
And for the very first time
I will walk away from all
My lifespan's guilt and crime