Disclaimer: See previous chapters

OhioGuy/Drakon45 - *In the voice of Shenron* "Your wish is granted."

Sober Crackhead - I'll do my best ^_^

airnaruto45 - I was just pointing out to the similarities between the way Liu Kang fights with the way Maito (Might) Guy fights; high speed movements combined with quick, but forceful blows.

undaed15 - Thank you. Again, I try not to make Sasuke, or any of the characters for that matter, seem overpowered. The story wouldn't flow so well if that was the case and the fights would be boringly brief and horribly one-sided.

TheAwesomeONE354 - Thanks. ^_^

Fusion Blaster - Neither did I for that matter. Initially, I had planned on him just breaking the Tsukuyomi through force of will, but after thinking about it further, I figured this seemed more plausible. Kind of goes in with the whole Shaolin monk thing. Seems to have worked out better than I thought

SulliMike23 - *chanting* Goro! Goro! Goro!

-0-

Drained of chakra, Karin rested back against the tree bark in exhaustion. Healing Suigetsu had been hard enough. Having to keep his chakra high enough to where he didn't disintegrate in his liquid form completely was hard enough, but to top that off, Suigetsu had some really sharp teeth. In all honesty, she wouldn't have minded if he did melt away altogether. For one reason, the shark-nin really ticked her off at times.

For another, that would have left her with Sasuke-kun all to herself.

She was practically giddy when Sasuke returned to the camp injured himself. That gave her a chance to heal him as well, even though there was concern as to what could have possibly put the Uchiha through that kind of hurt. There weren't many, if any, that she knew that could do that to him. Heck, she wasn't sure that even Orochimaru could do that to him now. Through her musings, she didn't notice the slight scowling expression on Sasuke's face as he rested; the youth's mind tumbling about until it began recalling back to when this all started...

Sasuke had just finished another bout of training when they received a visitor. The fact that they even had one was an uncommon event, but Sasuke didn't care for it. But the chakra the stranger was emitting sparked his curiosity enough to listen in. The stranger, an elderly man by the name of Shang Tsung, spoke to Orochimaru of a tournament that he wanted their assistance in.

At first, the serpent sannin played along, feigning as though he never have heard of Mortal Kombat. But Shang called him out on it and spoke that he had chosen well in coming there. In a gesture of good faith, he presented Orochimaru with one of his personal scrolls, which contained one of the methods of soul-extraction. While the information fascinated the serpent sannin greatly, he was no fool.

Such a 'gift' had to have a cost.

"And now why should you give me that?"

"As I mentioned before, in return, I have need of your services; Or, more to the point, your vengeful disciple."

Naturally, this caught Sasuke's attention and all eyes turned to him for a moment.

"I have learned that a group called the Akatsuki is sending a team of their own into the tournament. I am unaware of their intentions and I can not afford to take any chances that they may interfere with my plans."

"And what does Sasuke have to do with them?"

A hidden grin came over the ancient man's features. "Because I've come to understand that he has a…particular grudge with one of them, one who happens to be entering the tournament."

"Itachi…!"

Sasuke's eyes suddenly snapped open, his Sharingan active in an angry spiral as he began rising up, only for the pain of his injuries to bring his mind back to the present reality. His hated brother wasn't around, and he was at his camp with the other members of his team, one of whom had a hand rested on his chest to prevent him from rising further.

"Don't exert yourself, Sasuke-kun."

Ignoring Karin, Sasuke continued to rise, growling at the pain that surged through him as he finally got up to his feet. With a strained breath, he began examining himself. Karin had done her job well enough and while he wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of biting her in order to heal, it worked out. Even the sear wound that had been in his shoulder was nearly completely healed.

"Your body still needs to rest more."

His Sharingan fading away, Sasuke glared down at Karin, whose hand was still on his bare chest. The glare was enough for her to pull it back, her cheeks in a light blush. Regardless of this, she had a point. Settling back down, he rested his back beside the tree, watching as Karin did the same. He would need to rest and recover his strength if he was to be ready for his next match. Nothing less than 100% would be needed if he was to face his older brother again.

And kill him.

"Grah!"

Swearing aloud, Kano settled back into a chair, with his arm held in the armrest to settle the pain. Even though he was able to pop the bone in his arm back into place, it still hurt like the devil. A number of curses ran through his mind as he thought of the girl who had inflicted this damage to him. 'I should have killed her' he scowled to himself. But the pain had been so bad that he couldn't think of doing so after he had managed to knock her out. If he was lucky though, she would have bled to death from the knife that had been stuck in her side.

If he was lucky…

So far, this job had him relying on all kinds of luck. He didn't figure it would be an easy job, but neither did he expect it to go the way it was now. When he had mysteriously received the invitation to the tournament, he decided to do a little research. And while he found little that he believe was worthwhile, there was mention of a vast wealth of some kind that was said to be on the island.

It may have been a wild goose chase, but if there was any truth to it, he had to at least check it out. After his last encounter with the US Special Forces, which resulted in not only the loss of one of their cache, but also the loss of his eye, the Black Dragon was in need of funds to replace the loss. And while he was skeptical at first, the appearance of the palace changed that. For something of such magnificence to be built, there had to be something of value inside. He figured the tournament would be a sideshow; a distraction to let him search about and find what he was looking for.

Some sideshow…

Not only had he made little progress in his search, but the punks he was up against were tough. That wasn't too much of an issue for him; he was well used to getting his hands dirty in brawls. It wasn't until he faced the pink haired brat, however, when his plans appeared to have taken a step back. Now that he was injured, things were going to be even more difficult. If he was lucky, he would be able to heal up enough before his next match, or better still, he would find the treasure and get the heck out of here.

It was a good thing he had brought backup with him.

Given how tough this tournament was turning out to be, he wished he had brought Kabal along, as he was just as mean a fighter as Kano was. But his fellow Dragon was handling other business, basically holding the fort until his return. And the two he had brought with him were no pushovers either. From what they reported, they both were still in the tournament. It was just a matter of time before one of them if not he himself, found the treasure of the island.

For now, he would just have to deal with the pain.

The sun had begun to set over the Konoha skies, giving the village leader a spectacular view of the colorful sky from her office. Unfortunately, her mind was too deep in worry about the team she had sent in perhaps one of the most difficult missions ever to notice the sky's beauty. While she wasn't too concerned about Kakashi (he was a seasoned jonin with a near-legendary status), Sakura and Naruto were another story. As much as two of them have grown, she wasn't sure that this was something they could handle.

But if she was honest, who was?

Tsunade let out a low sigh. She was worrying too much. Raiden had said they were the ones chosen, so they must have had a chance at victory. She had personally trained Sakura and she knew her strengths well enough to know that she would do everything she could to succeed. The same went for Naruto as well. Tsunade had placed her hopes on him long ago and would continue to do so.

Turning away from the window, Tsunade sat down at the desk with the usual paperwork settled on top. As much as she favored them, there were other shinobi in the village to consider and watch over as well. She was the Fifth Hokage after all. For now, she would put her fears about Team Seven aside and just trust them, regardless of what was at stake. They wouldn't let her down.

He wouldn't let her down…

The next day of the tournament had arrived and Team Seven were following the shadow monk for the next match, which was Naruto's. This seemed a bit odd to Kakashi given the previous tactics. It was clear that this tournament was to work against them and had fully expected that they would be called for separate matches again like before; not that he wasn't grateful that it wasn't the case at the moment.

Last night, he had to cram in to the two younger shinobi the method of controlling the effects of violent intent and he knew such lessons weren't ones that could be learned overnight. Most shinobi learn it through experience on missions, but to hone in the ability requires a great deal of mental discipline. And while he was confident that his two teammates would learn, it just wouldn't be here and now. So having them all together to watch out for each other was a relief, even for a moment.

Walking beside Naruto, Sakura was almost a wary as Kakashi, although for slightly different reasons. Thinking back to the instructions Kakashi had tried to teach her and Naruto the night before, Sakura knew she didn't have a full understanding of it. No, understanding may be the wrong word. She understood the principal and more than that, the mentality but what was lacking was the experience. She didn't have the true experience of quelling violent intent.

However, she wasn't as worried about herself as she was about Naruto. As bad as it would be if she lost her self-control like yesterday, so she could only imagine how much worse it was for Naruto. His loss of control would be a disaster, no doubt about it. Having the Nine-Tails run rampant on the island; it would be worse than its rampage in Konoha all those years ago. She knew it was probably what was worrying Naruto too, remembering the downcast expression he had on his face when he and Kakashi returned from their fights.

So why was he happily humming to himself?

"Naruto, will you be serious about this for a moment?"

"I am" the boy replied. "I'm just relaxing my mind, just like Kakashi-sensei told us. Right?"

The copy-nin glanced upward in thought. "Uh, yeah. Something like that."

Naruto grinned. "See."

Sakura growled under her breath, but refrained from hitting him upside the head (this time). The group soon approached the area; a semi-open area with abandoned buildings scattered about, some of them only fragments and walls. Reaching a stone path on the ground, the monk stopped and the team stopped with him. Naruto stepped forward, cracking his knuckles together in readiness to fight. However, as the monk stepped aside, there was no sign of his opponent anywhere. 'What's the deal?' His answer came in the loud crack of thunder and a flash of lightning striking the path in front of him. In that flash, a figure materialized instantly, one that the team was all too familiar with.

"Raiden-ojii-san?" ("Old Man Raiden?")

In the center of his chamber, Shang Tsung sits in meditation. His plans are coming along nicely and it will only be a matter of time before the Mother Realm is taken. All of his pawns are acting exactly as should, save for one or two possible disruptions. But he is prepared for such. In fact, sensing a secondary presence entering in the chamber with him, he knew one such nuisance has been taken care of.

"Speak."

"You were correct, master" a voice answers from out of nowhere. "Orochimaru had sent a tracking team to watch over the boy."

Of course he had. The serpent sannin was many things, but a fool was not one of them. The only reason he allowed Sasuke to enter the tournament at all was simply because there was no stopping him. Dropping Itachi's participation was all that was needed. His desire for revenge was clear for all to see.

Especially to one who can look into souls.

"And I trust you have dealt with them?"

"They have been dealt with. Nothing remainsss."

"Excellent. Return to your prior duties. I will have use for your skills later."

"As you command, master."