Author's Notes - I decided to do this another way, seeing as the common thought was that it made no sense. So here you go, a more,... natural meeting,... for Ranma that is lol. Now, if you don't know this by now, you don't pay attention to my writing, but these tend to be a tad, bit, partial, LOT AU :P

Ranma - After Saffron Saga

Naruto - Same day Naruto and Sakura set out after Sasuke together.

Disclaimer - I don't own either Ranma1/2, nor do I own Naruto (not so 1/2). I do however wish I owned them both, then I wouldn't be stuck at work right now, I would be sleeping like the majority of the NORMAL people (it's 5:53am, and I work midnights last night)

------------------------- The Terrible Trio ------------------------

Tsunade sighed as she rested her head gently against her desk. To be honest, today was a day she wished never happened. It had been the day that seventeen shinobi had been reported as missing in action. Which in this world, usually meant they are either dead, or defected to another village. Rubbing her head tiredly, Tsunade stood up and walked over toward the window over looking the village. She wanted to smile, and badly at that, but frowned when nothing came to mind when she was looking at the houses. The only thing that was keeping her here was the Uzumaki brat, even then, it is a small thread. The last time she stuck her head out for him, the council threatened to have her assassinated in her sleep. Apparently, all people who had monsters sealed inside of them were too dangerous to be let out of the village. Giving a sharp bark of laughter, Tsunade shook her head and started toward the door "Old fools,... if you have a monster and try to contain, it only tries to fight harder for it's freedom. They would know this if they had ever left the village. She was about to reach out and open the door when a displacement of air caught her attention. Without turning around, Tsunade sighed "What is is Kakashi?"

Kakashi was standing in the center of the room, his jounin outfit tightly fitted to his frame "I have some more bad news it seems" the only thing that kept her from freaking out everytime she saw him, was that he kept the sharinghan so tightly sealed up until his chiei "Two more Shinobi's were found headless outside of Konoha village"

Shaking her head in sadness, Tsunade turned around and stared at him "Prepare four three man teams and comb out the area. Report back once you've found something." Seeing him incline his head in agreement, she waved him away. Disappearing in a puff of smoke, Kakashi was whisked away to start his new mission. Meanwhile, Tsunade hung her head once more and walked back to her desk "That amounts to nineteen Konoha shinobi now,... what is going on here" Her thoughts were interupted when the door burst inward, and a kid wearing a orange jumpsuit and had spikey blonde hair, barged into the room "What is it no Naruto?"

Slamming his palms on Tsunade's desk, 'Naruto' growled out "What is being done about the missing ninja's?"

Giving him the coldest look she has ever given to Naruto, Tsunade sneered "I am doing everything in my power to find out Naruto. I don't appreciate you sitting there and assuming I haven't done anything either"

Getting a sheepish look on his face, Naruto placed his hand behind head and laughed nervously "Ah,.. sorry about that Tsuna-obassan. It's just that one of the Hyuga's were part of the last group gone missing. It's got both Hinata and Neji pretty freaked out."

Nodding in understanding, and taking a couple deep breaths to prevent her further outbursts, Tsunade smiled slightly "Don't worry Naruto,... we'll find out what is going on, and when we do, I will personally see to it that it never happens again"

Frowning for a mere moment, Naruto smiled widely at Tsunade "Thanks Tsuna-obassan!" before laughing a bit.

Laughing with him, Tsunade put her arm around Naruto and pulled his back against her in a tight hold, trying desperately to hold back tears "Naruto,... I need you to promise me something-" meanwhile, she was chanting -please,... don't ask why, don't ask why, don't ask why- over and over inside her head "I don't want you to leave the village for a while."

Looking over his shoulder, and into Tsunade's eyes, Naruto blinked for a moment before grinning "What are you talking about Tsuna-obassan, I have a mission I have to do."

Feeling him tensing up in her hold, Tsunade wanted to scream out in frustration, but managed to whisper "Then,.. please be careful"

Straightening his jumpsuit out a bit, Naruto gave Tsunade a curious look "Tsuna-obassan,... why don't you want me to leave?"

Choking on her answer, Tsunade turned around and stared at the village through her window, barely trusting her emotions enough to stare at the boy "Because,... a lot of the Shinobi that were killed, had at one point or another, ties to you." hearing him gasp, Tsunade closed her eyes as tears started to slide down her cheeks "Five of the nineteen reported missing,... were some of the students that went to class with you."

Falling backwards, Naruto landed on his behind and stared at Tsunade's backside in fear "W-What,... WHY!?!"

Turning and looking at Naruto, tears still making their way down her cheeks, Tsunade whispered out, almost afraid "Because you are who you are"

Jumping to his feet and once more slamming his fist on her desk, Naruto seethed "So just because I have the Kyuubi inside me, my classmates are being killed?!? That doesn't make sense, explain it properly!"

Snapping at him for not taking into her emotional unstability into account, and just shooting his mouth off, Tsunade grabbed Naruto by his collar and pulled him close "Becuase they don't know who you are exactly. They only know when the Kyuubi was sealed!" Throwing him backwards, Tsunade sighed when Naruto landed near the door, a betrayed look on his face "Naruto,... I'm sorry,... it's just that you-" she clenched her eyes shut as the door slammed shut behind Naruto's retreating form, the tears once more making their way down her cheeks -Damn him,... DAMN HIM!,... and damn,.. me- Tsunade laid her head against her desk and wept openly. Minutes flew past, until even hours went by and Tsunade was sitting with her head against her desk as the sun set behind her. She gasped slightly as a pair of arms circled her from behind, but soon melted into their warmth.

Feeling her relax slightly, the man gave a small chuckle "spat with the weakling again?" He frowned when all she did was nod. Usually when he called Naruto a weakling, it got some rise out of her, but it seemed as though she was drained "Do you want to watch after him?" Feeling another nod, the man sighed "Then do it. I will watch over your throne while you are gone Tsunade-hime"

Looking over her shoulders at the abundance of white hair in her view "Thank you,... Jiraya"

--- Next Day ---

Tsunade, in her new disguise, was not so surprisingly assigned to team Kakashi, as they soon left Konoha village and was heading toward the sand village. She was now wearing a white kunoichi suit which hugged tightly against her frame, and had a form fitting metal mask covering her face. Leaving out the fact that her legs were decorated with kunai's of all kinds, and the other with scrolls, she looked rather beautiful. Taking Kakashi's side, Tsunade looked up and smiled behind her mask, knowing that he had already figured out who she was. She wasn't prepared for when he turned toward her and spoke openly "So why the disguise Tsunade?"

Both Sakura and Naruto stopped short as they now stared at the woman in shock "Tsuna-obassan!?" Naruto looked the woman up and down and fought off a blush slightly before stuttering out "Wow,... I never knew you looked so good"

Blushing under her mask, Tsunade sighed out "Damnit Kakashi,... you knew that I was wearing this to hide my identity, so why did you so carelessly blurt it out?"

Gulping behind his own mask, Kakashi gave her a weak smile, which was reflected in his eyes, before looking forward "Because,... Naruto and Sakura didn't trust you before. As you know, a team cannot function properly without trusting one another. So it was necessary to protect both Naruto and Sakura"

Lowering her head slightly, Tsunade gave a inclination of her head showing she understood, before turning around "Now listen here you two, today I am not Tsunade hokage of Konoga. Today I am Ayumi(1), Special anbu of Konoha, sent on this mission to protect the precious cargo"

Raising her eyebrow slightly, Sakura walked next to Tsunade and whispered "What's so special about Naruto to warrant a Hokage guardian?"

Swallowing her own lump this time, Tsunade shot Naruto a glance to make sure he wasn't watching "Because Naruto is a bit different from you and me-" Seeing her about to say something, probably against Naruto's character, Tsunade snapped at her "and because of that Akatsuki is after him."

Snapping her jaw shut at that news, Sakura glanced at Naruto as he was bantering with Kakashi, something about his mask, before looking at Tsunade "Wait,... you mean that the group of S ranked criminals are after Naruto?" Seeing her nod slowly, somewhat surprised at her knowledge, Sakura frowned "Then he shouldn't have left the village!"

Shaking her head slightly, and smiling honestly behind her mask, Tsunade laughed "Have you tried to get that boy to do anything he didn't want to? It's damn impossible I tell ya" Seeing Sakura frown for a moment, before nodding, Tsunade smiled warmly "Though having my apprentice agree is somewhat comforting. It lets me know that I haven't just babied Naruto."

Looking at Tsunade's chest with a slight blush, Sakura glanced at Naruto who was now trying to peel the mask from Kakashi's face "Y-Your his mother?"

Tripping over her feet and falling flat on her face, Tsunade turned to glare at Sakura before screaming out "How the hell did you come to that conclusion!"

Trying her best not to die of embarassment, Sakura helped the hesitant Tsunade to her feet before whispering "S-Sorry,... but the way you said about babying Naruto made me think of,..." Her blush became redder, causing Tsunade to once more trip and fall flat on her face.

Staring at the ground in somewhat embarassment, Tsunade started laughing as she started to get to her feet "You have an interesting group here Kakashi" seeing him nod, Tsunade pulled a scroll from her leg holster and handed it to Naruto "Naruto, you can summon can't you?" Seeing him nod, a bit confused, Tsunade smiled "I don't think I'm needed here. Summon me if you need me" She then leaned down, pulled her up her mask, and kissed Naruto on the forehead before disappearing in a burst of smoke.

--- Konoha village ---

Tsunade appeared in the center of her room, a dishelved look about her clothing, as though she changed in mid flash step. She turned toward the sudden coughing, and saw Jiraya sitting at her desk with his Henge of her image finalized in place "T-That will be all Jiraya"

Releasing his henge, Jiraya smirked "Aww but I was just going to have fun with that form" Seeing her blush and shiver at the same time, Tsunade growled "H-Hey now,... calm down. It was just a joke!"

Before he could say anything else, Tsunade had slammed her fist into his face, sending him flying from her office, to the entrance of Konoha, but not before screaming "JIRAYA YOU PERVERT!" Knowing that he would be fine, Tsunade allowed a smile to appear on her face, before starting down the hallway "A bath sounds pretty good right now actually" It took her only seconds to get the private bath house, which was reserved for females only. It was one of the perks of being Hokage, what with being so close to a working bathroom. Stripping down to nothing, and admiring her body in the mirror, Tsunade stepped into the hot water, a towel placed around her waist for modesty. It took her a couple seconds before she realized she wasn't the only one there "Ah,... sorry,... my mind was a tad bit preoccupied. How are you all doing, Hinata, Anko, Kurenai?"

Getting positive responses from them all, but a nod from Hinata, Tsunade smiled and was about to say something when there was a loud displacement of air above them. Looking up, Tsunade flushed in embarassment of being caught half naked so easily. Half expecting it to be Jiraya, she was shocked when a pigtailed body fell toward the bath, but not totally hearing Anko say "Did that guy just fuckin' appear out of nowhere?"

The other women were content with watching the boy fall from mid air, and slam into the water, stomach first -Ouch- was the common thought. Seconds later the boy resurfaced and looked around, his face partially red, though you couldn't tell from whether it was the fall, or all the naked women gawking at him "Uhh,... I'm Ranma Saotome,..." Seeing them start to get angry, short of Tsunade, who just stared at him creepily, Ranma put his hand behind his head and laughed "Sorry about this"

(1) - Yeah,... I don't know where that came from,... don't bother asking :P

Besides,... we all know Tsunade doesn't like working, hell she said so herself. Now, I fully believe she would follow Naruto if there was a ton other Shinobi from his class being killed off.