The door opened, just as the students were getting ready to leave. A girl suspiciously familiar to most of them, but with radical lavender locks that defied their expectations slipped in. She had eyes only for the teacher as she slipped in. The other students stopped looking at her as soon as they remembered who it was, and remembered who it wasn't.

"Sir, the Hokage sent me in. He said… for you to place me in one of the groups." He looked perturbed for a moment. After all, this wasn't a common occurrence.

"Our groups are all even at the moment, I'm afraid-"

"The Hokage said that a group of four was permissible in my case…" Pale blue eyes glimmered forth from her pale skin. She was young, but her eyes…they were serious at the moment. There seemed to be something hiding behind them. Something that was lurking there, something positive, yet stifled. A serious modesty, but a seriousness that portrayed her in such a way that her modesty was placed as a barrier.

Iruka gave the room another glance. The jounins were in the back of the room, and all four had eyes on the girl. She was slight of frame, dressed in dark blue, with icy blue trim, icy blue that just about matched her eyes. Yet there was little about her eyes that was truly icy.

"Groups? Who is willing to accept a 4th member?"

There were a few moments left in silence before the silver haired one stepped forward. She knew his name- her sister rarely shut up about him. This wasn't a good sign. Kurenai would have been preferable.

"I'll take her."

When she hesitated but a moment, Iruka gave her a shove, which she barely managed to turn into a graceful almost planned step. She stepped up to Kakashi and gave a little bow. "Sensei Kakashi…"

"You're the one the Hokage is moving up early?"

"Yes…"

"Name?"

The girl looked up, brushing lavender hair out of her eyes briskly, blue eyes on him as she spoke softly. "Sumiko Haruna."

He quirked an eyebrow, coming to the conclusion she had earlier, the instant she saw him. "This…will be interesting."

That was all he had to say…Miko however knew she had a challenge ahead of her. Proving to jounin, genin, chuunin, and Hokage alike that she could handle this. That her technique was strong enough to be useful in combat. But she had more to prove than that.

"Sasuke, Naruto, break it up. I've got someone I'd like you two to meet. I trust Sakura doesn't need an introduction."

Sasuke and Naruto turned as if on cue, stopping the fight they'd been i nthe middle of. As per normal, arguing. They recognized her, that showed. They likely didn't have a name for her fair face, and half emotionless expression. Of course, Sakura looked up as well. She was too stunned to steal Kakashi's thunder however.

"Sumiko Haruna is going to be joining our group."

The girl looked partially embarrassed, but mostly under control. However, her sister was much less calm. "What? But she's too young! She's a whole year younger!"

"The Hokage has seen fit for her to move up." No way to really contest that now was there? Sakura still didn't look too happy, but Naruto promptly distracter Miko from focusing on her sister's feelings. "So, you're Sakura's little sister huh?"

Finally, the girl seemed to be lightening up. She gave him a nod and a soft smile. "Yes. Miko."

"Naruto. And the brooding boy over there is-"

"Sasuke."

Her eyes meant to look at him, without being intrusive, but somehow, they're eyes met. She was a sensitive person. And just meeting his eyes, she could see a lurking pain there, one that Sakura had perhaps mentioned once or twice in her fan like ravings. But one thing Sakura would never understand was this: Blind devotion cannot heal all things- and what Miko saw in his eyes after simply a moment was one of those things. But try telling Sakura that…

She gave him a nod, not showing any outward signs of emotion to her sister. If her sister suddenly got the idea she was competition in any way, bad things would happen.

"So, Miko." Kakashi broke the lying silence. "Show us your best jutsu. Let us have a feel for your strength…s…" blue eyes looked startled, but he received a nod.

"Al…right…"

She took a step back from the group, and closed her eyes, her fingers wove the first two signs slowly, and there was a chirping noise heard, as she gained in speed, there was more chirping. Her hands moved through the last three signs quicker than she could reliably count on. Quicker than she could process in her mind. She relied on instinct to finish them for her. The chirping had combined to form a melody, and little dots of fire began to appear.

"FIRE SPARROW PHOENIX GUARD FADE TECHNIQUE"

The dots of fire formed themselves into birdlike shapes, flying a lap or so around the area before nosediving to the ground in front of their summoner. The droplets combined to form a flame that rose from the ground in the shape of a large tropical and extravagant bird. A phoenix stood there, waving blazing wings as a defense to protect her from some oncoming attack. Miko let the jutsu fall. While she was more than a little tired, seeing the faces of the audience she'd performed for gave her the strength to stand a little bit longer. Even Kakashi looked openly amused.

"Animal Jutsus…without an animal companion."

"Yes sir. I form them out of the elements using a combination of Genjutsu and Ninjutsu. Ninjutsu forms the fire, and Genjutsu shapes it for me. The technique is much more effective than a stand alone illusion."

Sakura couldn't seem to believe her younger sister had done that, while Naruto seemed excited, and Sasuke merely looked amused. When Miko looked away, she no longer saw that Sasuke was still looking at her, studying her. How could an academy student come up with her own jutsu?

In truth, Miko simply had a lot of time and inspiration. Some of that she owed to people. The rest she owed to the animals and the mythology.

The group dispersed after that, for a short break. While Miko was still endeavoring to stand straight and still, it wasn't easy. Energy had been drained through that technique, and the little bit of training they'd done afterwards. For all her strong points, she didn't have a strong body composition, that was for sure.

Just as she felt she was going to collapse if she didn't sit down soon, two pairs of hands pushed her onto a bench, firmly. And because of her current weak state, there was nothing she could do about it but sit. As she looked up, searching for the identity of her rough saviour (After all, she might have pushed herself further had they not intervened, and they hadn't needed to push her down…) she was a bit shocked to find it Sasuke. He didn't say anything as he looked at her before coming around and sitting on the bench she was on. There were a few more moments of silence before he spoke.

"You exhausted yourself. Maybe not entirely, but you were definitely shaky. We hardly did anything."

Miko aimed her head at the dirt speckled ground. "I showed off a little too much. I normally don't combine those two jutsus…" At his funny look she paused to explain. "They are two separate techniques- Fire Sparrow Technique, and Phoenix Guard Technique. By adding the word fade I combined the jutsus. That is more draining than they'd be separately."

He nodded, understanding, but clearly not approving of it. Such a shameful waste of energy. She knew that. But still, she sighed. That was how she worked. She gave her all, all the time, and it often tired her out.

"You need to build endurance."

"And stamina. I know."

Silence fell again. She knew why he withdrew into silence like this. She might not know exactly what the problem was, but she knew he'd been hurt somehow. The fire in his eyes was so strong, yet dormant. He had an aching passion, and it was tearing him up. He dwelled on it far to often to be free from it's influence. It took her a while, but eventually she spoke.

"You hide a pain, don't you? A scar, a challenge, a quest… I can see it in your eyes. I'm not going to pry about it Sasuke, really. I just wanted to let you know…. If you need to talk to someone…I'm a good listener."

He seemed shocked, but she gave him a quaint smile and slipped off the bench and disappeared down the street.

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