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: So here's the first real chapter in the story. The first part will take mainly place in the MK world before Naruto will be returning. Some parts are perhaps a little vague in the beginning, but things will be explained as Naruto learns more. As far as the pairings, they have been roughly set but I don't want to reveal too much about them yet. Enjoy reading and please review.

NARUTO THE TSUNG SAGE
- chapter one: first impressions

With a groan he started to come around, the headache which he was feeling caused Naruto to bring a hand up to his head before he even opened his eyes. He could feel the slight bump on his forehead, right there where he'd been hit. Furthermore he noticed a slight cold around him, making him realize something was off and pulled his thoughts away from the pounding sensation in his head.

It was slightly dark around him but the young nin could still see more than enough, making it clear that he was no longer in the forest he was in earlier. Cautiously he looked around, noticing that he was in some kind of alley surrounded by stone buildings although they were a bit derelict looking.

For a moment he had hoped that he was in Konoha but since he recognized none of the surrounding buildings that hope quickly disappeared. Pushing himself to his feet he tried to regain his bearings a bit more by walking to the end of the alley.

From what he could tell it was definitely a city and while the buildings were far from being in their prime, there was something else which caught Naruto's attention; the sky. It was almost like a dusk sky but instead of the normal blue it held a more reddish color. Clearly something wasn't right.

Sighing the kid wondered what he got himself into this time, as this looked like a lot more trouble than he'd been in before in Konoha. Right now he wondered a lot of things but the biggest question on his mind was the one of where the heck he was.

Standing there he felt a bit lost, seeing that he had no clue where he was and that just standing there wasn't going to help him either Naruto decided to make up his mind on what direction he would head off into.

He had nearly made a decision on that as he suddenly heard footsteps and from what he could tell they were closing in. Instinctively he reached down, his finger slipping into the ring of his kunai so he could draw it as quickly as was needed. They had caught him off guard once and he intended on not making that mistake again anytime soon.

Once the person finally came around the corner he'd nearly thrown the kunai, though the way the male was dressed threw Naruto off a bit. He had seen a few different styles to dress back home but seeing someone in a suit was definitely something new for him. Though the sunglasses the guy was wearing made him initially think of Ebisu.

Sensing no immediate threat Naruto decided to go over to the man and try and get some of his questions answered.

"Excuse me, Sir? Can I ask you something?"

The man paused for a moment and looked at Naruto, then smiled.

"Of course kid."

He then proceeded to reach into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out what looked like a piece of paper, which he handed over to Naruto.

"Here you go."

Confused Naruto looked down at the paper and then back up, though by then the man had already continued to walk on. Standing there the yellow haired nin scratched his head for a moment wondering that that was all about, before looking down at the paper again.

Holding in his hand was what looked like a drawing, or actually a photograph, and now he was looking at it again he noticed some writing as well: 'To my greatest fan! Cage!' Annoyed Naruto squeezed the piece of paper into a ball and tossed it away.

Looking up he tried to see where the man had gone, but by that time that Cage person had already disappeared from sight, leaving the streets seemingly empty again.

Unbeknown to Naruto the whole encounter hadn't gone unnoticed and though it had only been a brief meeting it did settle his fate for what was about to happen next.

Suddenly someone came dropping in from above, landing in a fighting stance a couple of feet away from the blond haired nin. This made him not hesitate to pulling out his kunai this time while resuming a stance himself as well, ready to defend himself.

The looks of his attacker though once again confused Naruto as where the previous guy had been weirdly dressed, this one almost looked familiar to him. The person had an outfit which clearly resembled that of a ninja, even though he couldn't see any plate which would tell him from which country this nin was.

The other didn't give him much more time to assess the situation though and soon the red and black ninja was exchanging blows with Naruto. Being on the defensive was definitely not his style but all Naruto could do was trying to counter as much as possible, though the fact that he held a kunai was definitely helping.

Each time he blocked a kick or punch he tried to do so with the knife. It allowed him to make a few successful albeit small cuts on his opponent. The fight was reasonably balanced due to it and for the fact that Naruto managed to get in a lucky blow every now and then. For the rest the more mature other fighter seemed close to gaining the upper hand.

The fight kept going back and forth for a while to the frustration of both it seemed. For Naruto it was because it showed clearly that he needed to get stronger indeed, for his opponent it was the simple fact that this should have been a quick kill.

All of a sudden his opponent jumped several feet back and resumed a fighting stance there, a different one than Naruto had seen before. Then from what it looked like the other nin began some kind of technique, though it left Naruto confused seeing there were no hand symbols used for it.

A moment later a black substance began to flow from the ninja's chest and after it pooled into a puddle on the floor it shaped into what seemed like a copy of the ninja he had been fighting, only dressed all black instead.

"And now you will die, as we will kill you quickly…"

"You really think that?"

Naruto's response came as a surprise to them, but even more so the smirk on the kid's face as he started making hand seals.

"Because two can play that game… Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A sea of smoke appeared around Naruto as the clones were being summoned. Once it cleared up they were revealed to his opponents, each of the clones smirking as they continued in unison.

"… only we do it a lot better!"

With that the mass of Naruto clones, including the real one, leaped forward and engaged into combat again. The sheer number of clones was simply overwhelming for his opponents and it left them taking blow after blow, each one weakening them more.

The black ninja was the first to fall, being tripped by one of the clones whom had crouched down behind him. After that several others leaped onto the fallen nin, their kunai's finally bringing an end to his life and leaving behind a black puddle of goo on the pavement.

It didn't take long before the other fell too, though he was a little bit more fortunate in that he had no kunai's driven into him. Instead a few well placed blows, or rather a lot of them, sent the nin to dreamland.

Naruto was panting after the fight ended as it had taken a lot out of him. But being victorious he smiled at his achievement while canceling his clones, till only he himself was left. He stood there for a bit and decided he better should get going, as though he had no clue where to head it was always better than to be jumped again.

Turning around the young nin began to walk away till suddenly a bone chilling voice filled the air.

"Get over here!"

Before Naruto realized it a rope wrapped around him and was pulled roughly into the shadows along with the still motionless body of his earlier opponent.