A/N: OK! So this is my first story ever posted on fanfiction. YAY! Its a Dark/Fem Naruto story that came to me when I was reading 'Signs' by d'ikshtri. So, let me know what you think. Read and Review por favor! And I hope you enjoy it! No on with the show! :)

Oh and disclaimer time!

Naruto: Addict Does not own me at all. Thankfully she is broke otherwise I'd be in trouble!

Naru-Chan addict: HEY!

Naruto: -Sweating- Enjoy the story! -Runs Away-

Whispers in the Dark

Prologue: Dark Beginnings

(Konohagakure no Sato - The Village Hidden in the Leaves)

He felt immense, agonizing pain the instant the ethereal hand passed through his body. It was the most excruciating thing he had ever experienced. But, just as quickly as it had appeared, it vanished. The suffering he felt was quickly replaced with mind numbing cold, and he couldn't decide what was worse. The feeling of having something tear into your very soul, or having it frozen from the inside out. He watched in a sense of horrified fascination as ghastly fingers began to slowly faze through the front of his chest, as if merely passing through water. They continued unhindered until an entire arm was visible poking through him. It suddenly plunged into the tiny bundle he held protectively against his body. He could only stare helplessly as the other worldly appendage tore into child's body, forcing the infant to wail in agony and writhe in his grip, most likely experiencing the same he had just moments before.

Sarutobi Hiruzen watched as the daughter of Namikaze Minato, The Yondaime Hokage, and his successor, began to cry

'Was this truly the only way to stop Kyuubi?' Contemplated the Sandaime morosely as he surveyed the horrifying scenery around him. The entire section of forest he currently occupied had been destroyed. Undoubtedly flatten by one of the Fox's massive tails. The clearing was littered with craters from powerful techniques, jutsu's, used in an attempt to stall the Bijuu long enough for reinforcements to come to their aid. A light breeze blew through the newly made clearing, and with it, came the stench of blood. The thought of how many of his former shinobi must have been lost this night caused sorrow to grip at his aged heart.

'How will Konoha survive the aftermath of this attack? We had just begun recovering from the Shinobi War, and now we have just been struck with another great tragedy.' Thought Hiruzen sorrowfully. His unsettling musings were interrupted as he noticed the crimson haze of the Kyuubi's Youki that had settled around the area began to swirl and condense at the spiraled seal on the newborn's stomach. The girl flailed and thrashed in his arms as the seal used to hold back the Kyuubi no Kitsune flashed a violent crimson, eerily similar to the rhythmic beating of a heart. The massive amounts of rage and bloodlust that accompanied the Kyuubi in its attack on Konoha was suddenly dwarfed without its master to feed it its hate. It was quickly replaced with an atmosphere of despair and hopelessness, fear and desperation, and the cold, numbing touch of death. Sarutobi's surroundings began to fade into black, leaving only him and Minato's daughter in the presence of the Shinigami.

He slowly turned to face the terrifying visage that was the God of Death, fully prepared to offer his life to the Kami as payment for summoning it to aid him in sealing the Kyuubi. An unnerving silence passed between the two as the Sandaime Hokage eyes slid close and awaited for his soul to be torn from his body and devoured by the Shinigami. But what he did not expect was a bone chilling laugh that caused his closed eyes to snap open.

"You know the price for summoning me to the mortal plain is your life, do you not?"

Sarutobi gathered his courage and voiced, with as much strength that he could muster, the one word that would seemingly seal his fate.

"Yes."

At his response, the Shinigami smiled. It terrified Sarutobi immensely. It was not a joyful smile, or one filled with mirth. It was a smile that promised nothing but cruelty and suffering, and it chilled him to the core.

"Sarutobi Hiruzen, as compensation for assisting in the binding of the Kyuubi no Kitsune to a human vessel, I claim your soul."

Sarutobi gazed down at the child that he had cradled against his chest as deaths cold fingers began to grip his soul. The last of his fleeting thoughts centered on her as what little life he had left began to fade. 'I do not regret sacrificing myself in place of your father little one. After what trials and hardships that have no doubt been placed in your life, the least you deserve is to know who your father is.' With one last shuddering breath, Sarutobi Hiruzen, The Sandaime Hokage, the Kami no Shinobi died.

On October 10th, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the strongest of the Bijuu attacked Konohagakure no Sato, tore through the village, and killed countless shinobi of the leaf. On October 10th, The Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen sacrificed his life to summon the Shinigami to help defeat the Nine Tailed Fox and bring an end to the devastation. And on October 10th, the words of a dying old man changed the fate of thousands.

"Live a long and healthy life. Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto."

Kawasaki Taro, a citizen of Konohagakure no Sato for six months was, up until now, having a very bad day. It started off when his alarm clock didn't ring that morning, subsequently causing him to be almost an hour late to work. When he arrived at the grocery store he worked at, he was greeted to the sight of his extremely annoying boss waiting for him with a, what he assumed was supposed to be a frightening, scowl plastered across his face.

After a heated conversation with the man that left Taro's fingers twitching for a kunai, he quickly moved to his place behind the counter, manned the register, and prayed for the day to end. The day seemed to drag on for him, and with only a handful of customers coming and going he slowly found what little attention he had left slipping away. Unfortunately for Taro, at around mid-day, he lost his concentration just as fifteen year old, grey haired, cycloptic ninja with his hitai-ite cocked down across one eye and a face mask covering the rest meandered into o the store. Now normally, civilians living in Konoha would have absolutely nothing to fear from the shinobi of their village, the protectors of their homes and families. But most civilians wouldn't be in Taro's current situation. Most civilians would most likely be passed over as a 'Non threat' by a shinobi, not staring into the cold, sole visible eye of one at least five years your junior and at least three times stronger.

You see, Kawasaki Taro was not a normal citizen of Konoha. Taro was in fact a newly minted Jounin of Iwagakure no Sato on a ten month, A-ranked Infiltration mission assigned to him from the Tsuchikage himself. He was given strict orders to keep tabs on select members of Konoha's council, its economy, and any current information he came upon on its military strength without being discovered. All the while posing as a simple civilian working at a rather common store. And now, because of a bit of boredom, he let his concentration slip for but a moment and destroyed months of reconnaissance work. Taro lost his control on his suppressed chakra, and allowed it to spike up towards Mid-Chuunin levels before he reined it back in. In that split second, Taro's lapse in concentration alerted an enemy shinobi to his presence, and now he was facing off with, at least a High-Jounin level Konoha shinobi. So, he did the only logical thing he could think of. He tossed a smoke bomb at the grey haired teen face, and high tailed it out the back door.

But alas, luck did not seem to favor Taro that day. Not even five minutes after the chase began, he found himself surrounded by at least ten anbu and the teen that found him out. He was promptly captured and dragged off to what he guessed was Konoha's ANBU Head Quarters, (he couldn't be too sure for he was quickly blind folded after being detained), strapped to a steel chair, and interrogated by the head of Konoha's T&I, Yamanaka Inoichi before being tossed into a cell lined with chakra suppression seals. He was held prisoner for all of nine and a half hours before an almost unbearable amount of killing intent washed over Konoha, along with an incredibly powerful wave of what he presumed was chakra which disabled all of the seals that lined his cell. Taro opened the cell door and poked his head out warily, keeping an eye out for any of the prison guards. Finding none, he made his way down the corridor and out the front door.

Taro made a hasty escape, only to find the Konoha on the wrong end of a very pissed off Bijuu's beat down. After cursing his horrible luck, and whatever god up there had it out for him, Taro decided that a 'Run Like Hell' plan was in order. His flight led him directly to where one Sarutobi Hiruzen had just summoned the Shinigami to assist him defeating the Kyuubi and sealed it into a child. Taro was weighing his options of jumping down from his hiding spot and risking his life at taking the child when the Sandaime Hokage's dying words reached him.

"Live a long and health life. Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto."

Upon hearing those words, Taro did exactly what any other good Iwa Nin would in his position. Grab the kid, hightail it out of Hi no Kuni, make a bee line for Iwa, and pray to Kami that the Tsuchikage wouldn't skin him alive for his failure. At least now he had some good news to placate his leader, along with a decent head start on any Konoha Shinobi that would follow. The heavy blow that was dealt to Konoha by the Kyuubi no Kitsune, along with capturing the most hated man in all of Iwa's child almost ensured that Taro would be able to keep his head when he reached Iwa, along with a fairly large reward for his accomplishment.

"Damn it old man! What the hell were you thinking!" Growled out a spiky blond haired, blue eyed man as he leapt across tree tops, with two shadows following closely behind him. His white cloak with red flames embroidered at the bottom fluttering violently behind him as he charged in the direction where the Sandaime Hokage's chakra signature vanished moments ago.

"Calm down, Gaki!" Grunted a white haired man in a green kimono shirt and matching pants over a mesh undershirt. What remained of his red cloak tied around his arm in a hastily fastened tourniquet from a wound he received earlier during the battle with the Kyuubi. He adjusted his heavily scorched horned Hitai-ite with the kanji for 'Oil' on it as he struggled to keep up with his student.

"I'm sure sensei just wants to reach Sarutobi-sama as quickly as possible Jiraiya-sama," mumbled the third member of group. The grey haired teenager gaze rested on Minato's back, hoping that his answer was indeed true. Minato glanced at his student out of the corner of his eye before he grunted out a 'hn' and quickened his pace. Both Jiraiya and Kakashi shared a look of concern over their respective Student/Teacher's sudden 'Uchiha-ish' response. After a few moments of silence, Minato muttered a single word that caused both of his travel companions to come to a sudden stop.

"Jinchuuriki."

Minato turned his head slightly, still keeping his back to them, as he chanced a quick glance at the two to gauge their reactions. Kakashi's visible eye widen in horror at the realization of what was done to stop the rampaging Bijuu hit him. Jiraiya on the other hand held a better reign on his initial reaction. His face was blank, but his eyes flashed with myriad of emotions ranging from fury to sorrow that finally decided to settle in a state of reluctant acceptance. Jiraiya exhaled deeply before he asked the one question that he knew he would regret having answered.

"Who?"

Minato's crestfallen expression coupled with his occasionally shuddering shoulders greatly unnerved Jiraiya. It was a look he had hoped never to see on his student.

"My daughter," whispered the young Hokage. Minato fully turned to face his student and teacher, allowing them to clearly see the shame and guilt he was struggling to keep from showing on his face. Jiraiya walked up and rested his hand on his students shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Minato tilted his head up, his pained, almost lifeless eyes peered into the understanding and caring pair of his senseis.

"It couldn't have been helped kid. We'll just have to take even more care of her is all!" Laughed out Jiraiya as he attempted to lighten up the gloomy air that had seemed to settle around them.

"Of course with the Hokage as a father, a spitfire of a mother, a Sannin as a Godfather, and this runt here looking after her..."

"Hey!"

"I'm sure she'll do just fine."

Minato allowed himself a small smile at the thought of his daughter being loved, even being a demon vessel, set his mind at ease. He was about to thank Jiraiya for calming him down when four anbu suddenly dropped into the clearing they occupied, all looking worse for wear and breathing harshly. The one wearing a bird masked stepped forward and dropped to his knee, quickly followed by the other three.

"Hokage-sama!" The anbu rushed out as quickly as he could, knowing his leader would want a better understanding of the actions being taken to regain control over the situation.

"Report!" Ordered Minato as he entered what he called 'Hokage' mode. The anbu rose from his kneeling position to stand at full attention before he began to relay his findings.

"We have transported all of the wounded to the hospital, and have begun preparations for moving all of the... deceased." The anbu paused at the end, allowing his emotionless mask to crack for a moment at the mention of their loss before he shook his head and continued with his report. "We have also set up a perimeter around the body of the Sandaime and we awai-" The anbu's report was suddenly interrupted as he found himself lifted into the air by the collar of his shirt by a very distraught Jiraiya.

"You lie!" Hissed the toad sage angrily as his eyes narrowed on the helpless anbu currently grasping at his arm trying, but failing, to break free. Minato quickly grabbed at Jiraiya's arm followed by a frantic Kakashi.

"Sensei!"

Jiraiya ignored his students plea and tightened his grip on the anbu before him

"Where is the old man! Where is Sarutobi Hiruzen!" Yelled the enraged Sannin as he brought the panicked man closer and muttered in a tone that sent chills down the other anbu's spines.

"And if your answer is that disgusting lie about my sensei being dead again, I'll make sure you'll regret it."

"ERO-SENNIN!"

At the yell of his student, Jiraiya cocked his head in Minato's direction, only to find a fist smash straight into his cheek. The blow sent toad sage sprawling to the ground forcing him to release the anbu. He slowly began to pick himself up off the ground and glare at his student, all the while ribbing his rapidly bruising cheek.

"The old man," Minato started his voice barely above a whisper. His eyes flickered around the clearing, looking for anything to focus on other than Jiraiya. "The old man is gone sensei. To seal away the Kyuubi, the sealing method the old man used, the technique I designed, was a suicide jutsu."

As he finished his explanation, Minato slowly raised his eyes to meet his senseis. As soon as the two met, crystal blue eyes shifted back down to the forest floor in shame. Minato took a deep, shuddering breath before he continued with the details that he knew his sensei had to hear.

"I had planned to use the Hakke no Fuuin Shiki in conjunction with Shiki Fuujin. The Shiki Fuujin was to summon the Shinigami to aid in sealing the Kyuubi, while the Hakke no Fuuin Shiki was the actual sealing. Or, a partial sealing anyways."

"Partial sealing, Minato-sensei?" Questioned a thoroughly confused Kakashi. Minato flashed a hollow smile at his student before he resumed with the more intricate details of his seal.

"Yes. I had intended to split the Kyuubi's energy in two. The yang being sealed into Naruto, and the yin in me before I handed my life over to the Shinigami."

The group surrounding Minato all sported looks of horror at the plan their Kage had thought up to stop the Bijuu apart from Jiraiya, who simply looked annoyed.

"I don't understand how people call you a genius, Gaki. You act more like an idiot," mumbled the toad sage as he shook his head.

"Well," Jiraiya muttered mournfully after a moment of silence passed amongst those in the clearing, allowing them to process what they had been told, and gather their thoughts. "At least I understand why he did it now. The burden of seeing the daughter of the man who sacrificed his life to save his village grow up without ever knowing her father would have been too much for him." Jiraiya sighed, looking up into the night sky before he chuckled sadly.

"Can't say I blame him though, kid. Especially since he died defending the place he loved above all else."

Shaking his head slightly, Minato turned to the four anbu before asking the one thought that had been at the forefront of his mind all night.

"Now that we have all that cleared up, where's my daughter?"

The four shinobi gathered before their leader all shared the same look of fear, thankfully hidden behind their porcelain animal masks. The bird masked anbu stepped forward slowly to speak with his leader once again.

"Hokage-sama..." The anbu started hesitantly, his head bowed in shame at the news he had to deliver to his Hokage. The few seconds that passed between those in the clearing felt like an eternity for Minato before the anbu uttered five simple words that shattered his world.

"We never found a child..."

(Kusa no Kuni - Grass Country)

Somewhere in Kusa no Kuni, a man clad in a long black cloak stormed through the woods, destroying everything in his path. Even though he was physically spent, low on chakra, and was in a fit of insane rage that would make Shukaku proud, he had one word running through his mind. 'Konoha.' At the thought of his former village, his rage grew almost ten-fold, and he resumed his wanton destruction with renewed vigor. He was intent on leveling everything in his current line of sight, in attempt release his pent up ire and frustration at his failure to destroy the Hidden Leaf Village.

"Damn them! DAMN THEM ALL!" He roared furiously as a section of forest was quickly consumed by black flames. Within a matter of minutes, acres of forest were reduced to nothing but ash with but the yell of Amaratsu and the frustrations of one man. A few moments later, a much calmer and much more composed Uchiha Madara stepped out of the remains of a once beautiful forest, and began strolling down a deserted road, new plans of how to destroy Konoha floating through his head.

'Ok, so the over-grown fox didn't quite destroy the leaf village. And now I can't even summon it again because that decrepit old man sealed it away into that brat. And to top it all off, that fool those disgusting Konoha scum call Hokage didn't even have the decency to sacrifice himself.' He mused to himself, annoyed that his months of plotting was all for naught. He shook his head to quickly rid himself of such frustrating thoughts. 'I can work around it I suppose.'

"Well, let's see, what other little side projects do I currently have going that I can steer onto the 'Destroy the Leaf Village' path." He paused in mid stride before his eyes narrowed, the beginnings of a frown tugging at his lips. 'More importantly, what can I do to exact a more immediate revenge on that damnable Hokage of theirs.'

Madara's internal ramblings were interrupted when he heard something so completely out of place, so completely foreign in the desolate country side of Grass Country, that it piqued his interests.

The cry of a baby.

'Now what in the bloody hell is a child doing out in the middle of nowhere.' thought the now rather curious Uchiha as he made his way towards the where he the noise had originated. When he came to a break in the foliage, Madara froze at what he stumbled upon. In the middle of a clearing stood a rather average, almost nondescript man seemingly having a staring contest with an infant he held at arms length. Both simply gazing at each other, the child in boredom, and the man in annoyance. Madara raised a brow at their actions before an amused smirk made its way across his face when he noticed the child was alerted to his presence long before the man, who he discerned was an Iwa shinobi from his Hitai-ite tied around his arm, had.

"Stupid brat," The Iwa shinobi grunted out, still examining the newborn, and still unaware of the danger he was in. "The Tsuchikage better give me a huge bonus for capturing you. Sick man that he is would pay handsomely for the Yellow Flashes daughter."

At the slip of that bit of information, Madara's eyes widen slightly. His smirk growing into a grin as he decided to make his presence known to the soon to be deceased ninja before him.

"That child," Madara started, cocking his head to the side slightly in a playful manner and savoring the fear the Iwa-nin was displaying at being snuck up on. "It is the child of Namikaze Minato, is it not... Iwa-san?"

As soon as Madara finished speaking, The Iwa-nin turned to face him, only to have a kunai buried to the hilt right between his eyes. The grin that covered Madara's face grew, threatening to split his face as the man fell to the forest floor, dead. His eyes quickly flicked to the bundle lying in the, now, lifeless mans arms. He removed the child from the former Iwa-nins grasp as thoughts of using the daughter of Konohas Yondaime Hokage, their Kiiroi no Senko, against them as his own, personally trained kunoichi. Though the ancient Uchiha knew this would be a fairly long term plan, he still couldn't help but feel a bit giddy at having a fanatically loyal disciple that he could always count on. Someone that would follow his orders without question, execute his commands without fail. Someone who would see him as a father. In every sense of the word, Madara would be this Child's father, and she his daughter. And who better to serve, then one's own father.

When he had settled the child securely into the crook of his arm, Madara removed the blanket the infant was wrapped in and got his first good look at the baby. He found it rather amusing to find the girl falling asleep.

'You are a rather interesting child to slumber in the presence of death, aren't you little one?' He thought as he watched the child stir and peered into brilliant slitted azure orbs. 'More so, you are the Jinchuuriki of my former pet. How... fascinating I would never have thought that your father would sacrifice you for that village. It appears when you are being molded, I will have more fuel to feed your hatred towards the leaf.'

"Well, don't you and your mother look shockingly similar?" Madara thought aloud as he noted the unique characteristics of the child. "A tuft of red hair, definitely from your mother. Blue eyes from that fool of a father. And astonishingly, you have absolutely nothing that would mark you as a Jinchuuriki apart from your eyes." He rambled to the child which only blinked sleepily in response. "Yes, you will prove to be rather useful later on."

Madara gave a long sigh before he continued with his babbling. "I suppose if I am to keep you, I should start out by apologizing for the whole 'Unless you want your child to live to the ripe old age of one minute' thing I spouted out to your parents when you were born." Madara looked down at the baby and sighed as she gurgled and grabbed hold of one of his fingers.

"What was it your parents called you again? Naruto?" He asked himself as he stared up at the rapidly darkening sky.

"Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto. Spiral Maelstrom of Wind and Water." He hummed a bit in thought before he shook his head in displeasure.

"No, no that won't do at all." The Uchiha pondered on what to rename the child, while still holding some ties to Konoha. He was stuck with a sudden idea when he thought about his overall goal, and what this child would do to help him attain it. He gazed down at the baby girl he currently held and uttered a single word.

"Chiyo."

He allowed himself a small smile when he heard a coo at the name.

"So you like the name huh?" He questioned. The response he got was a laugh from the girl before she began cooing once more.

"It fits rather well, considering you will be essential in helping me restore my Eien no Mangekyou Sharingan." With a nod, he continued walking as he cradled the girl in his arms and slowly began gathering chakra into his eyes.

"It's settled then. Your name from now on will be Uzumaki Chiyo. The Eternal Spiral." He lowered his gaze to the newly named Chiyo and noted that she had finally fallen asleep. He turned his sight to the horizon, just as the moon began to peak out from behind a mass of clouds. The Uchiha shut his eyes briefly before they snapped open, revealing that his once onyx eyes had bled into the crimson of the infamous Sharingan before he seemed to flash out of sight. One last haunting thought flickered through his mind before he vanished.

'I have grand plans for you little Chiyo. Grand plans indeed. And none of them bode well for Konoha or the Elemental Nations. I swear it now, before the end comes. This. World. Will. Burn.'