It was a split decision - the Kyuubi was on the verge of destroying Konoha, and he had to choose between the triplets. But perhaps instinctively, he chose the younger two. Their eyes had yet to open, but you could already see the red fuzz on top of Mito's head, and the blond on top of Megumi's. Then he was gone, leaving Kushina and his oldest child, Naruto.

The sealing was going well. Minato felt the tug on his soul by the Shinigami, and knew he had not much time left. But the Kyuubi's Yang chakra was safely sealed within Megumi and the Yin chalra was in the process of being sealed. Finally, with a great big burst of chakra, Minato sealed the Yin chakra within Mito. He felt his vision blur, and he knew it was the end. But surely when you die, your' vision doesn't become clearer and clearer? And then he saw it - Sarutobi, falling to the ground in front of him. Minato looked up, but the Shinigami was no longer there. But neither was the Kyuubi, or Sarutobi. The villagers rushed towards the man, screaming and yelling and celebrating. Because finally, they were safe. "Citizens of Konoha! I have an announcement to make!" Minato called out. The villagers quietened down, staring at their hero. "I have sealed the Kyuubi into my two daughters, Mito and Megumi. They are not to be regarded as evil. They are Konoha's heroes!" Minato shouted. Inwardly, he was wondering if he was making a mistake. What would telling the villagers mean for his daughters? But he leapt down into the crowd, running towards Kushina. "Kushina!" He yelled as he opened the door to where Kushina was lying. "Hey, Minato. It's all good." Kushina croaked. A medic nin was standing beside her, healing her. "I'm going to be alright." Minato smiled. Everything was going to be alright.

Timeskip four years:

Mito and Megumi were already deep in their training. Naruto was training too, though he was doing basic academy jutsu while the girls were focusing on complex taijutsu and ninjutsu. "Good job, Mito. Soon you'll be able to access the Kyuubi's chakra!" Megumi frowned at this. For some reason, they always praised Mito more than her. And Naruto, she supposed. Oh well, she just had to focus more on her training. And so did Naruto, instead of goofing off all the time. Maybe then he would be taught things more important than just academy jutsu. "Mom, Dad, look! I'm doing it!" Mito yelled as she performed a series of handseals. They were sloppy, but she was only four. Megumi, on the other hand, performed the handseals perfectly. But she didn't call out. After all, she couldn't do the jutsu properly. Just the handseals. Naruto, on the other hand, was struggling with the henge jutsu. "Hey, Mom! I can't do this right. Help!"

"Sorry, Naruto. But your sisters need all the help they can get controlling the Kyuubi. We need to focus on them." Kushina called. Naruto's face fell. Inside Megumi's head, this was immediately heard as, "Sorry, Naruto. But Mito needs all the help she can get so she can control the Kyuubi. We need to focus on them." She fumed inside, but didn't say anything, choosing to focus on her handseals instead. The dusty training ground was filled with the silence of intense concentration.

Naruto kicked up the dirt as he walked down the street. Of course Mom and Dad didn't have time for him. They never did! He sighed inwardly. It wasn't like Megumi had it any easier. She was so good at everything, but for some reason Mito, who wasn't nearly as good as Megumi, was praised more than her. This wasn't good parenting. "Hey there little kid. Watcha lookin' so down for?" Came a voice behind Naruto. He spun, quickly. There stood a woman about sixteen or so. She had green hair she kept in a short bob, with the fringe covering her eyes and framing her face. She was wearing a green top and black jeans. "Who are you?" Naruto inquired. "Call me nee-chan."

"Okay, nee-chan."

"Alright, now I told you my name we have established a mutual trust relationship. This means you tell me your name and your troubles and I might buy you a treat." the woman replied, sure that the kids parents would have taught him not to go with strangers. But the kid answered. "I'm Namikaze Naruto. And my parents won't train me." The woman stiffened. "Eh? Come again? The friggin' hokage is your dad and he won't train you? That is the most...anyway, I said I'd buy you a treat so come on, Naruto." The woman said, holding his hand. "I want ramen, please!"

"Ramen, huh? I know a good place. Called Ichiraku's."

"Okay, as I see it, you are being ignored. Now, since I know and hate the feeling, I have come to a decision. I will let you train with my apprentice and I. Now, my apprentice is just a little bit younger than you. Six months or so. She's a nice girl, and you'll get along. At least I hope you will..." Nee-chan said as she stuffed her face with ramen. "Our first lesson is tomorrow. I'll pick you up at Ichiraku's. Do you think you know the way?"

"Yeah! Sure I do!" Said an indignant Naruto. "Oh, and Naruto? If you're hanging with me and Bunny-chan, you need to be fashion conscious. No way in hell are you wearing that shirt. Wear something other than your clan symbol. I dunno, a hoodie or something." Nee-chan said. "You got it!" Naruto smiled. "Now, it's gettin' late and I bet you're folks are worried so you run back home and stay safe, ya hear?"

"I will, Nee-chan." And with that, Naruto sprung up and sprinted off. Nee-chan waved at his retreating back, barely seeing his silhouette through her bangs. "Heh. Speaking of late, I bet Bunny's wondering where I am."

"WHERE WERE YOU?!" Screamed a girl with white, long hair, and purple eyes. "I almost died of boredom." she said. "Sorry, Bunny-chan."

"Hmph. Sorry isn't good enough. But seriously, where were you?"

"I was out getting you a training partner!"

"Seriously?! Who is it?"

"Oh, this kid called Naruto. Bit of natural talent I guess, but what's really got me is why he isn't being trained."

"So he's a lot like me?"

"Hmm... I guess. You have a little bit more natural talent. But if he tries hard enough he'll catch up in no time. He's coming tomorrow." Nee-chan smiled as she said this, not only because she was tired of Bunny's constant complaints that she was bored and she wanted a partner, but because Bunny was a sister to her and she wanted the best for Bunny. And for Naruto, too.

"NEE-CHAN! Finally, took you long enough." Naruto jumped in the air and waved his hands around. "Hey, Naruto. This is Bunny. She'll be your training partner. She's been trained for a little bit, but only the basics. Not that she can do them very well."

"Hey! I can too do them, but you refused to train me proper until I got a training partner." the girl pouted. "So, Naruto, your dad is the hokage? That's cool."

"Y-yeah, I guess it is." Naruto said, taken a-back. "So, Bunny, right? Bunny, where do you come from?"

"Oh, I come from the West. Enough said. Anyway, let's get to training!"

They walked down the secluded track to a strange looking place. It was a huge jungle guarded by a fence. "Well be practising here today. Just crawl under this bit here, and I'll go in the normal way. I'll only be five minutes, so be sure not to kill yourselves!" Nee-chan said in a singsong voice. Naruto and Bunny crawled obediently under the fence, silently wondering what Nee-chan had meant when she said try not to kill yourselves. As soon as they were through, Bunny grabbed Naruto's hand and pulled him into the forest. "So, Bunny, where are your parents?"

"Dead." Bunny responded nonchalantly. "Oh. I-I'm sorry for your loss?"

"Don't be. You're my teammate and we teammates understand each other, right? And anyway, once Nee-chan takes you in, she's your only family. She's one of a kind, is Nee-chan."

"Err...what do you mean, she's your only family?"

"Well, Nee-chan is super kind. She's like, the ultimate older sister. And if you have a sucky family that won't train you or is mean, then you start to love her more and more. And you start to hate your family, too. And the best thing is, you can just leave. Without saying a word. That's how I recommend leaving."

"Bunny?

"Yup?"

"How did you leave?"

"Oh...not so quietly. See, what happened was-" Bunny never got to finish her sentence. A wold three times her size burst at her, jaws snapping. "EEEEEK!" Bunny screamed, curling into a ball and tumbling into a ditch. "BUNNY!" Naruto yelled. Quickly he picked up a stick and threw it at the wolf. It didn't hurt it at all. It just bounced off, rolling to a halt at Naruto's feet. He spun around and ran over to Bunny. She wasn't moving, but Naruto couldn't see any injuries. Slinging her arm over his shoulder, he pulled her away from the wolf frantically. "Nee-chan! Where are you?!" He yelled. The wolf was bounding over, saliva dripping off bony white fangs the size of kunai when a shuriken embedded itself in the wolfs neck. Nee-chan stood on top of the wolf, grinning down at Naruto. "Congrats, Naruto! You managed to stay alive. And you kept little sis alive too. Good job."

"Nee-chan! Will Bunny be okay?" Nee-chan jumped down and looked at Bunny. "...Yup. She'll be fine. Totally fine. For now, I'll get us to a good place to train."

Nee-chan's good place to train turned out to be a sandy square in the middle of a clearing. Laying down Bunny, who hadn't woken up yet, she turned to Naruto. "Show me the basic academy jutsu." Nee-chan said, in a no-nonsense tone. Naruto gulped and performed some hand seals