Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Mortal Kombat, I just meddle with those worlds for my own fun and those of others.

Authors Notes: Alright here goes my story, it is set right after the preliminary matches of the Chuunin Exams in Naruto and right after the final battle in the first Mortal Kombat movie. However there will be changes to both which will be revealed along the way. While some parts will eventually follow Naruto's main storyline there are some twists going to happen. Enjoy reading and please review.

NARUTO THE TSUNG SAGE
- prologue

It had been a couple of days since the preliminary fights that determined who would move onto the next stage of the Chuunin exams. It had been hard for Naruto to wait as he had wanted to start training the very next day, but even though he tried hard to convince his sensei otherwise he'd finally given in and agreed to give it a few days so everyone could rest up. After all it was still two months till the next round would happen.

Today though the Genin was done waiting and he wasted no time on tracking down Kakashi, though it had still taken a good deal of the morning and a lot of asking around as well. Perhaps it had been his own excitement that he didn't look at the hospital in the first place, though thinking of it he felt it was more because of Sasuke being there that he had been avoiding that place for a bit.

Heading into the building that was Konoha's medical facility he immediately looked around to see if he could spot Kakashi somewhere, which of course wasn't the case and caused a bit of a flare in his temper as well. Especially after he tried asking at the front desk, or rather shouted, but even there they couldn't tell him a thing.

"Naruto, calm down… this is a hospital after all…"

The voice made the young nin look up, as the laidback tone in which it was spoken was unique and thus belonged to none other than…

"Kakashi-sensei! I've been looking all over the place for you!"

"And I know why, Naruto. But sadly I cannot train you, so you will have to find someone else to help you prepare for the exams. I bet Ebisu is more than willing to help you out, he's a quite skilled ninja too."

A groan left Naruto's lips as he sighed and looked down to the ground.

"I get it, you're training Sasuke. I figured as much even with him still being in here."

Before Kakashi could say something the yellow haired nin was already on his way out, his posture clearly showing disappointment. The famous copycat ninja shook his head and then turned back into the hallway, making his way back towards the room where Sasuke was resting.

The mood of Naruto though had plummeted in a matter of moments, the sheer excitement he'd been feeling earlier was now replaced by disappointment and frustration. Not just because he had been blow off by his sensei in favor of Sasuke, but also because Kakashi had suggested he would ask Ebisu. Naruto had dealt with him in the past, enough to decide that the man wasn't going to be able to train him well enough.

He had to figure out some way to get some training, because even though he was highly motivated to fight Neji he was well aware that he needed to step his game up a few notches before he could face the so-called genius kid.

This issue was weighing heavily on his mind, enough so that he even walked past the ramen shop without paying attention to it. Sure he could use some food in his stomach seeing he'd spend a fair bit of time trying to find Kakashi, but right now he could care less and thus just kept walking on.

The idea was to head towards the training grounds to spend some time there thinking. But seeing Naruto was already thinking this much about the issue that he didn't even noticed that he had already left the village gates and walked way past the grounds where his team had trained for the first time.

Meanwhile the sun had started to set as well, the evening slowly settling in as Naruto realized he had walked too far from the village.

"Oh, crap… I should have been paying a little bit more attention. Now where am I?"

Naruto muttered to himself as he looked around to see if he could spot something familiar. Initially he didn't see much but then he noticed a building off to the left, mostly concealed by the bushes and trees of the forest he couldn't see what it was yet so he walked over to the wooden structure he'd spotted.

Upon closing in he recognized the building though, as he'd been here before. It had been a little while back, but this was the place where he'd learned his shadow clone technique. It was perhaps ironic to end up here, but it was enough to make him smirk.

"Don't worry kid, you did it before… you'll do it again…"

The voice in his head chuckled after that, Naruto following shortly. It wasn't the first time he'd heard the voice or had a conversation with the fox. Though so far it had been mostly arguments between the two, but he had to say that the Kyuubi had its points during them as well. However the fox had only be lending moral support so far due to that seal and until that thing changed there wasn't much the other could do. Sure, encouraging words were quite useful but Naruto needed more than words now. But with the night closing in now as well he needed a place where he could sleep safely and it was while looking for that when he spotted something deeper in the forest.

A faint glow in the distance drew his attention. His curiosity sparked Naruto slowly began to walk into the direction of it, trying to be as silent as he could while doing so.

As he closed in enough Naruto saw that the glow came from a campfire. The dancing flames reflecting off the surrounding, making it seem like there was movement in every direction. In the middle of that, or rather besides the fire, was something that wasn't moving and that something was a someone.

Keeping himself concealed he studied the sitting figure. It was a male as far as he could tell, though the long black hair could make it seem otherwise. Next to that the person wore a headband like his own but the forehead protector was missing, instead there was a set of feathers on the side. Furthermore he saw face paint similar to Kiba's, though before he could examine the man further he spoke up.

"How long are you going to stand there, Naruto?"

It of course threw the young nin off, so as he stepped out of the bushes he made sure to keep a hand near one of his kunai's.

"How do you know who I am?"

"I know a lot more than that, Naruto, but that's not important right now. What is, is the question whether you want my help or not?"

"Help? What kind of help can you provide and even more so… how do you know I need it?"

"Look, all those things aren't important right now and nor do I have the time to explain it to you now either. You want to become stronger and I can put you on that way, just you need to choose the path you will take…"

Naruto groaned as he was once again left out of the loop of things, or so he felt. But he knew he needed help and at least this guy looked more credible to him than Ebisu did. Standing there he looked to the ground, trying to make up his mind on what to do.

"Alright, I'll take it but if I don't like it I will go my own way."

He spoke as he made his decision before even looking up, though once he did he felt he had made a mistake as the blunt end of a tomahawk hit him square between the eyes. The impact instantly knocked Naruto out and he slumped to the ground as the other walked over to his now prone figure.

"It will be your way to choose Naruto and I hope you will choose the right path to walk, because there will be no walking away."