Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Claimer: Though I wish I did!!

Summary: Set just after the Wave Arc, doing the two to several month period before the Chunin Exam. Team Seven returns surprisingly with Haku, though Zabuza went off on his own somewhere. Though it's the conditions under which the young lady journeys to the Hidden Leaf that this particular tale begins. After all, do we really need a review of the past… YES!!

The Maelstorm Tiger

Chapter One

The Beginning

Nearly thirteen years ago, a giant nine tail fox attack the Village Hidden among the Leaves. Yet, this was no ordinary demon fox, but a Tailed Beast! One of the nine most powerful incarnations of raw power to ever exist! Yet it begs the question… why did the beast to choose to attack? And why with all its great strength were the Ninja of the Village Hidden among the Leaves able to hold for so long? These questions may never be answered, but the facts remain and so does the village.

It was stopped, held at bay and away from the village by the shinobi of the village. Surrounded by trees and giving their all, they held the beast a fair distance from the village walls. The shinobi fought and died to hold the beast and hold they did! As they held, the greatest ninja to have ever been born, or so many say, came forth standing a top his friend and summon, Gamabunta.

With a final sorrowful look towards his comrades and his home, the Forth Fire Shadow, Namikaze Minato, showed the mighty beast before him only determination as he set his eyes and his will upon the course he had chosen.

A short, but intense clash later and the mighty Kyuubi no Yoko was sealed with in the body of a new born baby inside a sheltered chamber back in the village and the fox's body disintegrated into nothingness as the Yondaime Hokage passed from this world to the next, even as his summon vanished, permanently scarred by this battle. Gamabunta would be the first to admit that he considered the blonde Hokage his greatest friend and to some degree, a surrogate brother.

The ninja mourned there losses, as did the people, but when the boy that held the vile beast, that the fallen hero had wanted to be seen as hero was demonized as the demon itself! People demanded his death, but many shinobi drew their weapons to protect the boy. He was after all, the legacy of the Yondaime and they wouldn't let the bastards who couldn't tell the difference anywhere near the boy.

Some chose to believe in their fallen leader and others chose to be foolishly blinded.

As such, the Reinstated Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi, decreed that the truth of the night would be forbidden to be spoken of and that the penalty would be death. The younger generation would not know, unless the Sandaime or the child, Uzumaki Naruto, decided differently.

Over the years, the young boy grew up alone. Only the Sandaime and a few others ever showed him kindness. Most people, those who moved to the village well after the attack, which would come to dislike the boy, only did so, because of the pranks he started to play. Though many would not fault him as it was his way of crying out for attention and even most of his staunchest opponents began to think twice about the boy.

Naruto, like many others, attended the Ninja Academy in hopes of becoming Ninja, though Naruto wanted to be Hokage! There he met Umino Iruka, a chunin whose most distinguishable note was a straight, horizontal scar across the bridge of his nose and that went under both eyes as well, such was its length. Iruka-sensei had become like a big brother to Naruto, though he hated the boy for the fox, it was simply not in character to continue to hate Naruto, but just the fox instead.

There was a reason why some called him the Kindly Dolphin. While others simply called him the Guardian Dolphin, as he could be quite headstrong and protective of his students and charges. Most referred to him as the Faithful Dolphin as his loyalty and trust was hard to earn, but when it was, you had a friend for life.

His dedication was truly proven when his fellow instructor, Touji Mizuki, tricked Naruto into stealing the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing after the said boy had failed the Genin Exam for the third time straight. When Mizuki attempted to kill both Naruto and Iruka, Naruto showed his true colors. He was like a tiger protecting his kin and his skills at learning advance techniques were shown. When put to the test in the field, no piece of paper could truly show what Naruto showed that night.

Iruka passed his little brother that very evening and when the morning light came, a new life for Uzumaki Naruto had begun.

A couple days later, and after the misadventure with Sarutobi Konohamaru and his Special Jounin tutor, Ebisu, Naruto was assigned to Team Seven under Hatake Kakashi and with team mates Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke, they somehow passed Kakashi's Genin Test and became fully commissioned ninja… though the D-Rank Missions they could have done without.

Still, after little more than two months and Kakashi-sensei somehow not being turned into a pin cushion by his students, they received their first C-Rank Mission to the Land of Waves. Though the escort mission of one bridge builder named Tazuna had turned out to be of greater importance than they thought when the mission went B-Rank due to hostile missing ninja. The mission received yet another upgrade when Momochi Zabuza appeared and the situation of Land of Waves was fully brought into the light.

Yet, despite everything, the team succeeded in completing their A-Rank Mission.

Zabuza left the field and no one knows what happened to him at the moment, though in all likelihood he's still planning to overthrow the Mizukage of his home village, the Village Hidden in the Mist. Though his heart has changed for the better and he might just succeed in his life's mission.

As for his two supporters, the Demon Brothers, they went with him, but as for his apprentice…

…She was currently snuggling up against her lover and recently discovered father of the new life now growing with in her… Uzumaki Naruto.

The Sandaime was going to be livid. He already had the riot act read to him by Kakashi. If that wasn't enough, Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter had too, as had his team mates, though Sakura more so than Sasuke. Though Sasuke did inquire on how best to cuddle a girl for when he started rebuilding his own clan much to Sakura's outrage. Yet, if one knew the whole truth surrounding the young Uchiha, one would be surprised and at the same not surprised. There was more to this young ninja than met the eye.

Now with the bridge now named for the great hero, the Great Maelstrom Bridge, the intrepid band of five ninja and a house wife and her son sent out to the future that they now hold, little knowing just what they were about to unlock with the Keys of Chance.

And so now that they have arrived at the Gate of Trees one of the four Great Gates to the Leaf Village, they enter and thus begin an interesting and much told tale for generations to come… The Birth of the Maelstrom Tigerfox, the Greatest Champion to have been born!

"Oh man! Why do we have to see the Old Man now!" complained a boy of rather short stature for his age in a bright orange jumpsuit with blue patches, red and black national emblem on his back, twin spiral clans seals upon his shoulders, and a white collar.

His most distinguishable notes are his cerulean blue eyes and sunshine blonde hair. His skin is tanned and despite his height, is quite healthy looking. But it is upon the cheeks of his face that his most notable note can be found. Twin set of trio whisker birthmarks upon both of his cheeks. The boy also still wore all of his ninja gear in their various colored pouches or holsters as well as blue ninja sandals and his blue cloth headband with its metal plate centered, proudly showing his village mark, the Leaf of Konoha.

His whine though was not lost on the six others in his group. One was a mother who was garbed in a simple light blue kimono and with her was her son wearing a fishing hat a couple sizes too large and coveralls with a stripped shirt, but both were wearing black civilian sandals. They both were also dark haired and eyed, but the mother was still rather attractive despite having a child of eight or nine years, and being a year out from turning thirty.

The tallest was the blonde's sensei who was garbed in what was the standard issue black uniform and metal plated fingerless gloves with a Chunin vest instead of his heavier Jounin vest, though he had his headband at an angle to cover his left eye and a non-standard issue lower half face mask, leaving only his ashen hair and bored looking right eye exposed.

Then there were his two teammates, both of which were several inches taller than the blonde.

One was a girl with pink hair, jade colored eyes, healthy average skin and tone, a red eastern style dress with white trim and circles that went to the knees and black shorts. She too carried her gear still, but her headband was being used in the form of a ribbon to hold her long hair and she too wore blue ninja sandals.

The other was a boy who was taller by a couple of inches to the girl. He had black, slicked back hair, black eyes, and a slightly pale, but healthy complexion. He wore a blue shirt with his clan emblem on the back, white shorts, his headband around his head like his blonde teammate, and finally all his gear and blue ninja sandals as well.

The last was a dark haired young girl of at least sixteen years. She had a very feminine look, though for most of her young life, she had hidden all traces of her femininity behind a genjutsu so as to be a perfect tool for her former master, Momochi Zabuza. Now she wore the fact she was female with pride, especially for her younger lover, the blonde. She was very beautiful, to which the pink haired girl was normally grumbling about.

Haku, which was her name after she changed it from Mei, was much like her name in skin color, white, but it had a healthy shine to it. She was dressed in a simple pink kimono. Though she also carried shinobi gear like everyone in the group, upon her back was a brown travel pack full of all the things she had, which there were admittedly few of. She wore an unblemished Kiri headband on ashen black cloth around her forehead and grey shinobi sandals. She also had a very pure heart, but was fiercely protective of allies, friends, and loved ones.

The group was Squad/Team Seven also known as Team Kakashi under the Copy Ninja, Hatake Kakashi, also known as Sharingan Kakashi. His students were the raven haired Uchiha Sasuke, heir to the great Uchiha Clan and sole survivor, and Haruno Sakura. With them was the blonde Uzumaki Naruto who rounded out the team and the mother-son pair, Tsunami and Inari. Currently the group of seven was on their way to meet the Sandaime Hokage and Naruto knew he was going to get another reading of the Riot Act.

Honestly.

How was he supposed to know that with a one night get together, that Haku was going to get pregnant by him?

Seriously, they did skip that in the Ninja Academy…

…At least he thought they skipped it or did he skip that class?

Oh boy, he was in trouble now!

Yet, it was something about that night that kept bothering him.

During the… passion the two had shared, Naruto's hands had glowed funny and now Haku's right leg was marked with the same emblem that adorn his jacket's shoulders. He had a strange feeling that it was somehow clan related and he hated the feeling that he couldn't figure it out! He always hated things that were over his head, but what was worse was this might link him to his parents… to his unknown past.

In truth, he was frightened, he truly honestly didn't want to know now, but he would soldier on. After, he was an adult in the eyes of the village, so it was time to man up and know that he was not only going to be a father, but that he was going to be father.

Though he knew he was hopelessly prepared for it, but he reasoned, how many fathers actually were?

None to maybe, just maybe a small percentage in the single digits he would bet.

They arrived at the Hokage's office and were let in once the secretary caught sight of Haku, Inari, and Tsunami, though it was Haku's headband that truly sped things up. The secretary summoned some ANBU to help the Hokage's Chunin guards and to keep any of the pesky council members out. There was always something with them, be it good or bad. One of the councilors, a man named Danzo was a mysterious one and the question of whether or not the Shinobi Advisors were still properly advising the Hokage was always being asked. So the secretary was very glad for several rather familiar ANBU, including a white coated ANBU Black Operations Captain and the ANBU kuronichi popularly known as Neko-Chan.

When the group had entered and the Hokage saw that this was going to be a long report, quickly covered up his office in a special technique before activating the office seals that now effectively 'hid' the office from the outside. In other words, no one could enter, hear what was being said, or do practically anything else from the outside short of trying to break in with heavy duty equipment and techniques. Only when all was complete did Kakashi give his report, which lasted two and half hours. Afterwards, he got to the trickier subject.

"Lord Hokage, I recommend you don't smoke or drink during this part of the report," Kakashi advised.

He got a nod from the aged leader and then launched into his report.

An Hour Later

The Hokage turned to Naruto and then to Haku before turning back to Naruto.

Six Hours Later

The Hokage had just finished give Naruto his version of the Riot Act. The man was red face and looked surprisingly refreshed. He must have had a hard day and this gets dropped into his lap. Well, he really didn't need to read the Riot Act, given the Uzumaki Clan's country of origin and their past, but he be damned if Naruto, his surrogate grandson, got off so easily. He could hear not only Kakashi shaking slightly, but Inari as well as the hiding Konohamaru and Udon and to a point everyone, but Sakura, Haku, Moegi, and Tsunami shaking to some degree.

"Naruto," the wizened leader took a deep breath, "You're quite fortunate that you can get away to a degree with this, being not only a ninja, but of the Uzumaki line from the Land of Whirlpools."

That surprised everyone and Haku felt her face flush as she realized she was carrying the child of rather famed clan with in her.

"How… so?" Naruto asked lightly and nervously.

"Around two hundred and some odd years ago, before the founding of the hidden villages as we know them, a man attempted to seize control of the country, but failed," the man known as "The Professor" started, "unfortunately, a biological weapon he was working on was accidentally released, fortunately it was incomplete, unfortunately, in its uncompleted form only one in fourteen women were giving birth to sons," the Hokage took a drag on his pipe before resuming, "this tends not to matter much, but the Land of Whirlpool was always, and quite unfortunately so, caught up in one conflict or another with others who wanted her wealth."

Even Inari could figure that one out; there wouldn't be enough men to fight the many battles.

"Unfortunately for the would be invaders, the defenders were very skilled and had powerful allies, such as the Land of Fire and her two ninja villages, Hidden Leaf and Hidden Smoke."

Everyone knew the villages and the country had sided with the Land of Whirpool with several other minor, but once powerful forces, including Hanzo of the Village Hidden in the Rain. The Land of Whirlpool was a major trade hub and had surprising ease of access to foreign weapons, such as the deadly Longbow and mighty shields and protective steel chain mail and steel plate armor from various powers. . The weapons that they imported also included the deadly musket, but those were hard to make and it had been proven that easily trained battalions of musketeers were no match for Chakra wielders on their own, no matter the land.

Heck, musketeers were pretty much easy targets without a lot of additional, more traditional units.

Though the musket was not in high demand and had a reliability issue and slow reload rate. Its range also was not that great and was even far more inaccurate than an academy student first trying to throw their first kunai or shuriken, but there was a more reliable range shooter out there… the rifle.

Though the rifle was far better to the musket, they were extremely rare and required more training in its use and care and so were generally overlooked by many lords as a waste.

Yet, at the Battle of the Lion's Gate, one of the major land based entry ways into Whirlpool, the Whirlpool Samurai had gathered more than two hundred riflemen and not one musketeer. They proved that the rifle had its place in their armories as the men stationed on the walls fired at flatter trajectories compared to the bow troops and helped trim the numbers of the largest army seen some the fall of the Elemental Empire.

Over forty thousand men had gone to battle for the Land of Earth.

Less than nine hundred left after the week long battle.

The Whirlpool defenders, without reinforcements, and without ally support, numbered only one thousand three hundred men with not one ninja compared to the seventy Rock ninja that was with the Land of Earth Grand Army.

The Land of Earth was still recovering after that defeat and with what happened to Iwa at the hands of Namikaze Minato, the nation still had strength, but they would have to wait a long time for the chance to raise such an army… again.

The Whirlpool Defense Force had also created the first Ranger detachments ever in the Lands of the Elemental Countries. These bow and sword wielding warriors are a cross between ninja and samurai and helped to defend the country as a multifunctional force. The concept had been only found in the Land of Whirlpool as they were the only ones to consider it vital to have such a multitask teams and when it came to defense, the saying was always, 'Hang the cost! Freedom is more important!'

This approach saw the nation for many generations and even after the country was no longer as great or grand, the nation was still free and its military might still impressive.

Even in territory that had been lost, the people still held hope that they were be free and reunited with their countrymen.

"The only reason the nation lost so much land was because of the Kyuubi and the natural disasters the oversized fluff ball created that left them and us weakened," the Hokage was seeing an idea form in his head concerning the ANBU Root.

That particular division was always giving him headaches, despite the fact it was supposed to be disbanded. With this new idea, Root would be of actual use to the village instead of a waste. He could also wrestle control of it from Danzo and reorganize the unit into a more proper military training detachment, as was its original function and duties, of the Land of Fire Military.

'Plus I can one up those old crones and fat pigs who still don't see how damn expensive in lives and material a war is… Especially in the aforementioned,' the aged Hokage now might be able to get some damn breathing space!

"Though, now with this recent little… escapade," the Hokage couldn't say anything else and Naruto's picture was used to help children learn quite a few words in a dictionary, 'like his mother before him,' the Sandaime thought with a mental smile, but he was suddenly business, "We may be looking at a war in the near future as the mark of the Uzumaki will not be ignored by the fools who think they control the Land of Whirlpool."

The way that last sentence sounded was like the Sandaime thought that war was about to begin anew. It was the twin powers of Water and Lightning that held the most of the territory still. The others having not gained what they wanted allowed the lands to fall into anarchy before the Whirlpool Rangers raided and occupied the taken territories and the Whirlpool Governing Council annexed the territory backed. It was actually a wonder to the Sandaime Hokage that the cowardly leaders of Water and Lightning, though a reform movement had gained control in recent years, had yet to attack either the Land of Fire or the Land of Whirlpool, aside from the Hyuuga-Cloud Incident several years ago and the preceding border skirmishes between Cloud and Leaf which lead to said reformation movement.

Those thoughts made him stop and think.

'Very well than… Hizashi, the time has come and your death with be honored,' the Old Man thought bitterly at what was to come.

"As it stands, we have the information they will eventually get, so we're going to strike while the iron is hot!" the Hokage slammed his fist down on his table, feeling quite a bit of stress leave him and the man known not only as 'The Professor,' but also as the 'God of Shinobi' already had a plan.

The true significance of the fist strike on the table was clear: the other villages and their countries would not negotiate, so there would be no negotiations.

The Leaf would have to go it alone and unfortunately, Naruto would have to lead at some point, but he wasn't the only one.

The Hokage turned to face Sakura, who suddenly got a sinking feeling.

"Sakura…" the Hokage did not know how to phrase it, so he took a note from Naruto's book and was blunt, "You and Naruto will need to be in the vanguard as your of the Uzumaki sub clan, Clan Haruno."

Sakura felt her eyes widened and heard Naruto's jaw drop.

"Before there are problems, you two ARE NOT related by blood to be defined as relatives," the Hokage spoke.

"In fact both of you are related to certain people who had a hand in the founding of our village," the Hokage continued.

The people in the room were surprised.

"To be exact a member of the Haruno Clan had married into a clan after the incident I told you early," everyone was leaning forward, "The Shodaime Hokage was the great grandson of the rebel insurgent who died at the hands of his own sister, the co-foundering Hokage's grandmother. Thus that is how the Senju Clan had such great affinity with water and why the Sho and Ni were only half brothers, but that is a tale for another time."

Sakura wanted to faint and Naruto too, it was like being told he was the son of the Yondaime.

Boy would he be in for a surprise several years later.

"To be exact, Sakura, aside from her mother and one other, are the only surviving direct descendents of the Shodaime," pausing, "and Naruto is of the Nidaime's line and is thought to be the only one known to be alive, though that connection is actually a bit complicated in and of itself, but suffice to say it is there and it is strong."

Haku had gotten flush before and was helped by Tsunami into a chair before she passed out and falls to the floor. It was easily understandable, as water and wind elements formed ice elements. So Naruto would develop an affinity for water and thus gain the legendary Nidaime's abilities and he ran the chance of developing the Mokuton, the Wood Release, Bloodline.

Still, the latter was a long shot, because Naruto's father, though unknown to most in the room, was a Wind affiliated, while his now revealed mother and his heritage on her side would be an affinity for water, thus allowing Naruto to use Ice Release Techniques like he would use a Wind or Water Release with little trouble and a lot less chakra.

Yet that would be a long way done the road for the nearly thirteen year old boy.

"But now I believe it is time for the two of you to learn your respective clans' fighting styles," Sarutobi looked like he knew he was going to get it later as he withdrew three scrolls from a hidden compartment in his office.

"This storage scroll holds all there is to know of the Senju Clan," he took a drag on his pipe after showing a brown and green scroll, "the blue and red one is of the Uzumaki," he showed it and then holding up a pink and white scroll, "and this one is the Haruno."

"Study these together and Naruto and Sasuke shall assist you Sakura in studying the Haruno, unless they want me to continue to with hold the Scroll of the Uchiha and Naruto's own father's family scroll," the God of Shinobi sure knew how to get people to work together.

The two boys would want their withheld scrolls and Sakura wasn't one to deny her teammates something so important.

"I will also release to you two the weapons of your clans, specially made double edge swords specialized into a style where the wielder wields two of these weapons, not one," the Hokage took a breath at the baffle looks, "The Twin Double Sword Styles, The Whirlpool Twin Water Dragon Style and the Scattering Cherry Blossom Twin Strike Blizzard Style."

The group before the Hokage was stunned.

Haku practically fainted and the follow up thuds were the ANBU that were in the room and Kakashi hitting the floor.

"Glad they choose that moment and not this one as there are Taijutsu Styles that go along too," seeing those who remained in the land of the living were as prepared as they'd ever be, "The Whirling Elemental Tiger's Claw, much like the Hyuuga Gentle Fist, but completely different… actually the Gentle Fist is based off the Tiger's Claw," the Hokage had a foxy smirk that he had picked up from Naruto when Naruto was especially mischievous much to the amusement of the others before continuing, "and for Sakura, the Haruno Clan was mostly made up of women to begin with and so they played to their strengths, namely their legs."

"An all leg style," Sasuke spoke trying to remember something of a lost art his brother had mention about that… then it hit him like an Akimichi performing a Meat Tank attack or Naruto attacking defenseless ramen at a ramen shop. The latter being more likely.

"The Swaying Roots of the Elements!" Sasuke nearly shouted as his jaw hung.

"Indeed, the one and the same," the Hokage responded.

Sasuke just whistled. That could put him on a path to legendary status that would completely one up his older brother. The Legend of Uchiha Sasuke…

'Hold on! Where did that come from?' Sasuke thought as he moved slightly and a little orange book fell out of his weapons pouch attached to his waist and unfortunately, someone saw it.

"SA-SU-KE!!" Sakura roared, crush or not, she always pounded perverts into the ground.