After a long time of having an account on fanfiction(.)net, I have FINALLY decided to write a fic. Obviously this is my first try, so I don't know if it has a good standard, though I did make sure grammar and vocabulary was alright. Hope you all will enjoy this. Oh and this is set about 3 years before the start of Naruto and after the ending of Prototype. Minor spoilers (I think that's the way you say it) and after this prologue, it'll be Naruto from then on. Further chapters will also be in third person.

"My name is Alex Mercer." Web of Intrigue speech

'My name is Alex Mercer.' Web of Intrigue thought

Disclaimer (first try): I do not own Naruto (Kishimoto's) or Prototype (Radical Entertainment's) so please, no lawyers.

Prologue - The End of a Beginning

My name is Alex Mercer. I'm the reason for all of this. They call me a killer, a monster, a terrorist. I'm all of these things…

Someone released a lethal virus in Penn Station; I woke up in a morgue. Now I hunt, I kill, I consume, I become. I'm gonna find out who did this to me, and I'm gonna make them pay…

At least, that was my mission in the past. Now, two months after I started my search for vengeance, I've accomplished what I wanted, and now I have the information I needed. I am not Alex Mercer, but the Blacklight virus that took over his body. Ironic that he was the cause of the virus outbreak, releasing that sample of the virus before dying from gunfire, and his body was resurrected by the virus after it was brought to the morgue. That at least explained how I didn't have any memories when I woke up on the slab.

I stand on the rooftop of an abandoned apartment house, watching the sunrise in the horizon, while recovering from regenerating from the nuclear blast. It's a wonder how I managed to it, but I just passed it off as another mutation in my body, and another reason I am both more, and less than human…

Sighing, I consider my options. The threat of Blackwatch was over for now, but there may be some leftovers. I should make sure they are taken cared of. The world doesn't need another virus outbreak because of an experiment. Another could be seeing just HOW much I can evolve. Maybe I could travel the world; I could consume animals to gain some of their special traits, the same way I consumed those hunters to get my blade. Then after that, is there even a possibility for a normal life?

Deciding to go for my first option, I closed my eyes, delving into the large net of memories I called the Web of Intrigue, trying to find any possible traces to a hidden Blackwatch facility I missed. As I shifted through the large number of memories for anything Blackwatch related, a stray memory passed and before I knew it, a strange thought came to me:

'This country is much more technologically advanced than my village, but they don't seem to display the usage of Chakra or any ninja for that matter. But strange…'Infected' seem to be running amok on the streets, they seem more like zombies than anything…I should report this to Hokage-sama when I return to the village 3 months from now.'

Startled by the strange usage of words, I temporarily halted my memory search for Blackwatch facilities and tried bringing up more memories from the same person. I vaguely remembered consuming what looked like a Japanese tourist about 2 weeks after I started searching for clues of my life, when I was being chased by Blackwatch personnal. I needed a disguise, so taking the most opportune target, which was the tourist; I consumed him and took on his appearance. Curious that he uses strange words like 'Chakra' and 'Hokage-sama'…And didn't ninja only exist a few centuries ago? Finally I came upon a set of memories from the same man, though slightly fragmented.

"Aida Kensuke, you are hereby promoted to the rank of Jounin…"

"…B-rank mission, escort a businessman to Sunagakure…"

"…You're not getting away with this! Katon: Hosenka no Justu!"

"…go on a reconaissence mission for 1 year outside the Hidden Veil, a place named America…"

After shifting through more of this Aida Kensuke's memories, I reflect upon what I just learned. Apparently there is a great continent hidden behind some 'Hidden Veil' in the middle of the Southern Pacific Ocean. This 'Veil' prevents all who do not know the existence of this continent from seeing it, even if you flew over it. To solve the problem of any boats getting close, they had some sort of 'genjustu' (seems like a fancy name for illusion) that made the waters around the continent seem stormy, making people avoid the area. Rather ingenious really, but I'm deviating.

The people who live on it seem to be less technologically advanced than the modern world. When I looked through his eyes in one of his memories, the building architecture reminded me of the Okayama prefecture. They made this up by having the ability to manipulate some kind of life energy that is in all living creatures (by their definition) called Chakra, which answers the question of what it was. They can do many things through this manipulation, for example illusions named 'genjutsu', offensive and defensive techniques of many kinds called 'ninjutsu', improving close combat fighting skills generally called 'taijutsu' and other uses. People who do and train in all of this were referenced as 'ninja'.

This intrigued me greatly, as this is definitely not normal by modern human definitions. Then again, these people seem to consider this normal, seeing as they lived and grew up around this type of concept, and I'm also not normal by modern human definition either. Something stirred within me too, a sort of battle hunger, which was mostly ignored when fighting either Infected or military, but it was definitely there when fighting a challenge, and I actually enjoyed it, for example that Leader Hunter…

I'm suddenly reminded of Alex's-my sister, Dana. I couldn't simply leave her here, even if she had recovered from her unconsciousness when she was kidnapped by that leader Hunter. Maybe I should bring her along to…wherever I would go. But if I ever considered going to these…"Shinobi Nations", I could be risking her life.

Then there was still the fact I wasn't the original Alex Mercer; that Dana wouldn't accept who I am now. That line of thought was immediately eliminated. The past Alex Mercer was only a scientist who didn't have any concern for others (why else would he willingly release the virus before dying). No, I am better than that. I helped bring the infection to an end. I am not a despicable scientist with no regard for others. I am a new man, and I will take better care for her than Alex did.

My mind is set. I will go to these Shinobi Nations and perhaps live there with Dana, in possible peace. The first memory I saw of this Aida Kensuke mentioned returning to his home village 3 months after that day. Since that was one and a half months ago, I have another one and a half months before the transport that is supposed to bring Kensuke back to the continent arrives. Until then, I will train myself to evolve further, maybe look through more of Kensuke's memories so as to get an idea of life in the Shinobi Nations. I was slightly concerned about developing my evolutionary potential before another stray memory revealed there were some monster-sized animals there. This further cemented my decision to go to the Shinobi Nations. I'll have to find a way to get a trip on the transport, but I can settle that later.

With that done, I open my eyes to the morning sun, and jumped off the roof of the building only to glide through the air temporarily to another rooftop. My destination: Dana's current residence across the city. I will have to talk to her to see what her point of view was on this whole 'Shinobi' thing. I vaguely recall the village's name as I transverse across wrecked streets: Konohagakure.

Good? Bad? Please review, so I may improve, as this is my first try at making ANY fanfiction. And before you ask, Alex will be joining Konoha, so no requests for other villages. Also, I am not sure if I should add pairings (read: first try), so I need time to consider, so until then, please no requests for pairings, I have enough work as it is without having to do all the romance stuff.