AN: Well that was fun. And your guesses are quite correct. Now that that has been established, I should let everyone know that the Mortal Kombat place will be based on the first MK tournament (MK1 game), although there may be characters from the other tournament making appearances (I haven't quite decided yet). It'll sound a lot like the movie, but don't worry. It won't be completely the same and there will be alterations of course.

Oh yes, before I forget, I do not own either Naruto or Mortal Kombat.

-0-

Emerging from the forest terrain, Team Seven soon came upon a village near the sea. As they made their way toward it, Naruto thought about their mysterious mission. Heck that was all he had really been thinking about since they left the village. At first, it seemed like any ordinary mission to him. True, both Sakura and Kakashi seemed worried because of the rank of the mission, but to Naruto, all missions were important (except the one where he had to find that damn cat; that was just annoying) and therefore, he always gave it his all.

But that didn't really explain Tsunade's worry...or Jiraiya's...

-(Back)-

0

"Ero-sennin!" (Pervy Sage!)

Team Seven were just making their way toward the gates of the village when they made out two distant figures in their pathway. Tsunade and Jiraiya were both standing in wait for the team. Tsunade had managed to return to her usual calm, although worry was still in her eyes. But Jiraiya held a solemn expression on his face, a clear sign to Naruto that he wasn't in the kidding mood.

"Of all the things that could happen, I never would have believed this."

Naruto turned to Tsunade. "You told him?"

"I wanted to make sure you guys had everything you need." the village leader answered. "And since Jiraiya has been with you for the past few years, I wanted to know if there were any...complications."

"It's a good thing too." Jiraiya continued. "If you had left before I could say anything, it might have been bad."

"You know what this is about, Jiraiya-sama?" Sakura asked.

"I was given the rundown, so yeah, I know." The toad sage nodded. He then shook his head lightly. "To think that this would happen, and that you three would be chosen ones."

Naruto blinked. "Chosen ones? What are you talking about?"

"Your client will give you all the details."

And Naruto...that jutsu... If you're going to use it, be absolutely careful.

The eyes of the blond ninja went wide at first and then lowered. "Oh... Okay..."

The Sannin pair soon stepped aside and let the team move on. "Take care of yourselves, all of you." Her gaze then lowered to Naruto and her voice softened. "And Naruto, remember. You promised that you would be Hokage."

"Just remember that out there."

Those last words she spoke made Naruto worry. Whatever this mission was, she was clearly worried about them. And to add to the fact that Jiraiya was worried to did nothing to help him. What was this mission about? And why were they so freaked out about it? Was it really that dangerous? The questions were just about to burst out of his mouth when Sakura beat him to it.

"Kakashi-sensei, what is this mission all about?"

The silver-haired jonin looked up thoughtfully. "It's part of an old story, actually. A story about an ancient tournament that is held once a generation."

"A tournament?"

"Yes. Think of it like the last part of the Chunnin Exams. But it's not just ninja that will be there. This tournament is said to host the greatest fighters in the world. In fact, it is said that both the Shodaime and the Niidaime had entered the tournament long ago, before the construction of Konoha."

"No way!" Naruto blanched. "Really?"

Sakura's face was equally pale, but she managed to recover enough to ask. "Why us then? I mean, aren't SS missions reserved for the Hokage and ANBU?"

Kakashi gave the young woman a quiet nod, seeing that she had just to the same conclusion he had before. "I believe Jiraiya-sama had already answered that."

"He did?" Naruto replied.

"Yeah." Sakura's eyes lowered in memory. "He mentioned that we were... the chosen ones."

Naruto nodded. "I remember. And Baa-chan said that it wasn't her choice. What did that mean?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Hmm. Well, I'm pretty sure our client will answer all of that. But first, we have to find him. Now we are to meet him aboard a boat that is to come in later tonight. We'll check in at an inn and head for the dock when it arrives."

"Gotcha." His attention then swiveled to the town. It wasn't as grand as Konoha (most places weren't), but it was new to him and Naruto always liked seeing new places. "Hey Sakura, since we have a bit of time, how about we explore around a bit."

Sakura turned to Naruto with a glare. "Naruto, we're on a mission now. A really important mission. We can't be fooling around now."

"Aw, come on. Our mission hasn't really even started yet." Naruto then turned to their taller teammate. "We can look around a bit, right Kakashi-sensei?"

Once again, his eye looked up thoughtfully. "Well...we do have a few minutes. So, I guess there's no harm in wandering around a bit."

"See? So let's go."

It's been an hour since the pair had separated from Kakashi and they were well in the middle of town. Sakura, for her part, welcomed the comfortable scene. Like Naruto, she saw that is wasn't as bustling a town as Konoha, but it was still nice. Children played about in the streets as their parents went about their day to day activities. Also, being a town by the sea, fishermen moved about, hauling their catch to sell. It was a relaxing atmosphere.

At least, as relaxing as it could be with Naruto around...

The young man just couldn't help showing his excitement at everything that caught his eye. She was in-between being embarrassed and wanting to knock him clear across the sea. But when he suggested that it felt like they were on a date, she decided to compromise and merely bashed his head into the ground.

Hard.

"Owwww..." Naruto moaned while rubbing his head. "What was that for, Sakura?"

"For acting like a kid." she snorted. "Honestly, I thought you'd matured more than this."

But Sakura's words went on deaf ears as she saw Naruto stare off in the distance. Following his gaze, she saw he was looking at a small establishment. Upon reading the words on the sign, Sakura's eyes went wide and she snapped over to Naruto, but was far too late to stop him.

"Is that...? No way! A RAMEN SHOP!"

In a split second, an orange blur rushed down the street and right into the shop. Sakura could only gasp and then lower her head in further embarrassment. 'Forget compromise. As soon as this mission's done, I'm sending him straight to the moon! Cha!'

The pink-haired chunnin made her way straight toward the ramen shop where Naruto had already ordered four bowls of miso ramen. The storekeeper, a middle-aged man, brought Naruto his servings where he proceeded to devour his meal in his usual procession. The storekeeper blinked at this at first and then laughed.

"That's quite an appetite you've got there, young man."

Naruto just swallowed what was in his mouth and grinned in returned. Looking about, he then made an observation to Sakura, who had taken a seat next to him.

"It's just like Ichiraku."

"Ichiraku?" the shopkeeper replied upon overhearing. "You mean the Ichiraku of Konoha?"

"Yeah. I go there every day." He paused thoughtfully. "Or at least I did before I went away for training. But now I go there every chance I get."

"A regular, huh? Ichiraku-sensei must like you."

Both his and Sakura's eyes widened at this and Naruto was prompted to reply. "Ichiraku-sensei...?"

The shopkeeper grinned. "Yep. He taught me all about making ramen. I'm not as good as he is, but I'm getting there. Name's Shobi."

Naruto was about to introduce himself when a newcomer made their way into the shop. Normally, this sort of thing wouldn't have stopped Naruto from talking on, but there was something about the newcomer that caught his attention.

"One vegetable ramen please."

Shobi nodded and went to get the order. As he did, Naruto continued to look at the stranger with curiosity. The person was male, wearing a broad straw hat that obscured the top of his face. Long white hair drifted out from behind the hat and plain white robes covered his body. All in all, he had the appearance of an old monk. But for some reason, there was something about this man that felt...different to Naruto.

"So, you two are ninja from Konoha." the man said suddenly, the hat on his head turning only slightly.

"Yep."

At that point, Shobi returned with the stranger's order, at which he turned back to his meal silently. After slurping some of the ramen, he then continued.

"For a ninja, you wear odd colors. Won't you stand out?"

That naturally set Naruto off. "Hey, I happen to like these clothes, old man!"

"Naruto, please." Sakura replied. "Don't be rude."

Naruto simply glared. "Hey, he started it!"

Another slurp of ramen. "Quite noisy too."

"WHAT?"

At this point, Naruto was off the stand and standing on his feet facing the stranger, still glaring. Sakura grabbed his arm to hold him back. Aside from the fact that the stranger was partly right, she too could sense something odd about the stranger. She couldn't place her finger on what it was, neither did she feel it as strongly as Naruto, but there was...something.

"But I guess it can't be helped." the stranger continued. "Probably considering who, or rather what, you are."

This caused Naruto to freeze in place. Something about the way the stranger said that made him think that he wasn't talking about him being a ninja, but rather, being a jinchuriki. Just as his brain began to function again, the stranger quietly rose up, already having finished his meal. As he pulled away the curtain of the shop, he turned his shrouded head slightly toward still stunned ninja.

"Until we meet again, Naruto Uzumaki."

This time, both Naruto and Sakura blinked in surprise, with their thoughts running along the same path. 'How did he know my/his name?' As loud as Naruto was, he hadn't mentioned his name. It was in this moment that the stranger moved on, releasing the curtain of the shop.

"Wha... Hey wait!"

But upon pulling back the curtain, the stranger had vanished...with a crack of thunder sounding in the background...