Day one with Michi. Sorry for the delay. I just haven't been feeling well mentally, you know? I'm like in a creative slump right now.

Sharing Emotions

Chapter 25

"Ninja art: Reptilian Armor jutsu."

Michi's skin had thickened after performing his hands signs to activate his clan's jutsu. The Third Company was shrouded in mist. Visibility was low but screams permeated the air as comrades fell to the slaughter. Michi didn't have a chance to help. He couldn't see.

Michi knew the enemy was attacking and stood vigilant with Sai protecting his right side while two other members protected his left and back. They were in a four-corner diamond, waiting for the enemy to strike in the haze. This was the safest position, even if they had to endear the sound of blades slashing and the woes of agony from their comrades.

The air got colder bringing a shiver up Michi's spine. He always hated the cold as he saw his warm breath in the air. Michi heard Sai inhale sharply, turning in time to perceive the impending attack.

"Look out! Behind you!" Sai stated but his direction came too late as senbon assaulted their two alliance members.

Michi's eyes widened in shock. He too moved too slow to help. The two ninjas fell to the ground with a muffled cry of pain, but Michi didn't have time to mourn. He saw the figure flash by in his line of sight, knowing he was about to strike again. This time the assailant's aim was at him and Sai.

Michi covered Sai in time, blocking the handful of senbon that had been unleashed upon them.

The senbon were deflected by Michi's armored skin, unable to impale him. The needles fell to the floor in a pile at their feet as they finally got a look at who their attacker was. They saw it was Haku of the ice style.

Haku's eyes were darkened. He was only a mere puppet. Michi knew from his reconnaissance mission that Kabuto must have been the puppeteer controlling him as Haku prepared a hand sign.

Suddenly more ice mirrors appeared, surrounding them. Haku's figure disappeared into one of the mirrors before he appeared in all of them. This wasn't a good sign as Michi began to perform new hand signs.

He knew he could protect both of them with his barrier jutsu, but they would only be sitting ducks until his chakra dissolved. No, he had to act first. He couldn't stay in defense for long, even if his jutsu was mainly for defensive purposes.

"Earth style: Dust Barrage," Michi called out, both his hands slamming on to the ground.

Dirt from the Earth floated up in the air causing little visibility on top of the mist. It completely hid Michi and Sai from Haku's view and Michi performed his second jutsu.

When the dirt finally settled, Haku only saw one opponent. Without hesitancy, Haku attacked Sai hoping to end the battle quickly, but every senbon he threw seemed to be thwart by an invisible force.

After the tenth senbon was blocked, Haku parted from his mirror swiftly. His senbon in hand to strike at Sai personally when he was knock off course by a sound punch to the face. That was when Haku saw it as his body floundered backwards from the assault. He saw the grains of sand move on the ground.

The blue-haired leaf ninja never left, he was always right there with them. With that new discovery, Haku retreated back to his mirrors, flashing at the speed of light between them. He saw the sand turn as Michi tried to keep up.

Michi gritted his teeth, he could only assume his enemy knew he was hidden.

"Sai can you draw up some birds?" Michi spoke softly.

"I can… how many do you need?" Sai questioned.

"Only enough for a distraction. I have an idea but stay close," Michi mentioned, glaring at the image of Haku that darted between the mirrors.

Sai drew a few large birds quickly. "Ninja Art: Secret Beast Scroll."

The birds soon came to life from the page, swooping out at the mirrors as Michi darted back to Sai's side. He made hand signs quickly hoping he had enough time as his invisibility faded to prepare for his new jutsu.

"Summoning jutsu: Eight stone Pillars."

Hastily, Michi drew more hand signs as the eight pillars of stone rose up out of the ground encircling the two Leaf shinobi. Haku appeared in all the mirrors, preparing to unleash an onslaught of senbon. The disruption of the summoning shook the Earth, while Michi casted his second jutsu. He covered Sai and himself in his reptilian armor barrier just as Haku unleashed his attack.

Without hesitation, Michi activated his paper bombs once he and Sai were safely protected. Haku's undead eyes widened at the result, seeing the seals upon the stone pillars a little too late. There was nothing he could do as the explosion went off, destroying all his mirrors and disrupting his jutsu. Without protection, Haku was disintegrated by the attack.

Yielding his barrier, Michi took a glance at the result. Seeing the threat neutralized for the moment, he let the rest of his barrier down. Sai scanned the area. The mist was lifting and they could both see other teams of 4 surrounded while fighting and stalling the enemy.

"Thank you Michi," Sai stated, sincerely.

Michi shrugged. He never cared for praise. "Don't sweat it."

Soon Haku's body began regenerating from the dust in the air. This wasn't over. Michi was dwelling on that fact. This was only the first battle and he was already tired of it. He didn't care for extended fights. He wanted to defeat the enemy and move on, but it looks like he couldn't do that. Not in this war against the undead.

Michi shook off his whining thoughts. It didn't matter how long he had to fight or how tired he got. He needed to fight. It didn't matter how he felt. He needed to protect. Standing firm, Michi kept his distance from the regenerating form. Both him and Sai took steps back strategically, readying themselves for round two.

Their attention soon became distracted when six additional coffins were summoned up ahead. Michi caught sight of Kakashi where Zabuza stood in front of him and was summoning more reanimated shinobi. All were lethal warriors known as the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

Michi's jaw tightened. They needed to put a permanent end to these ninja as his eyes traveled back to Haku. He was almost in one piece again.

"Haruki clan members fall back. Protect the intel and seal members. Michi, Sai that includes both of you," Kakashi called out loudly.

Michi and Sai looked at each other before retreating, never taking their eyes off the battle field. They withdrew to the back of the Third Company, others taking their place on the battle field. It didn't take Michi long to spot his clan members. They too had followed orders, taking a step back to protect important members of the regiment.

They paired off in groups of seven; two members of the Haruki clan with a mixture of seal and intel members. The Haruki clan kept their reptilian armor activated in anticipation of an attack, but at the back of the platoon there was less crossfire.

Michi was breathing easier now, but he wasn't relaxed. He felt tension in his muscles as he remained focused. His body slowly recuperating the amount of chakra he had lost as he kept his armor activated. Michi's eyes peered over at Sai that was crouched on the ground, noticing he was out of breath too. It was a good thing Kakashi told them to fall back, but Michi knew it would only mean that others would take their place.

Shrieks and war cries were ringing in Michi's ears. His shoulders shook. He had to stay put but it was torture for him to hear others falling to the enemy. He grew enraged the longer he stood still, gathering strength. He couldn't protect everyone. Even the two ninja that had stood beside him when they faced Haku he had been too late to save.

Michi gritted his teeth. He knew war meant that there would be sacrifices and that he would see others perish. He only thought he might be quick enough to save a few of them. However, he was never quick. That was Saryie's job. His job was to protect, to defend. That's was what Michi believed to be his role in Team H. Michi exhaled slowly, trying to stifle his anger at himself.

He never quite liked the role of defending. It required others to depend on him which he never wanted the pressure of. He didn't want to let anyone down. He didn't want others to see that he might not be strong enough… that he might not be quick enough.

Now the day had finally come where Michi had to face his greatest fear; failure. He had to keep persevering pass his mistakes. He still had to defend what was left… until the end.

His sisters and his teammates came to mind. He smirked, his one fang slipping past his lips in his smile. He couldn't be negative even if the situation got dire, he had to defend until his last breath.

With newfound resolve, Michi's anger subsided and his body stilled. He was breathing calmer again. He could do this; he only needed to believe he could and he hoped Saryie and Azumi were doing well in their own respective fights.

The battle was raging on in the Third Division. Many had lost their lives while they tried to contain the enemy. Hours had passed and some members of the Haruki clan split off with the seal team to help capture the enemy.

Michi was still with his dad, Miruko, and his cousin Chiki along with Sai, two intel members, and a seal member. Plenty of time had passed for Michi to regain his strength while his focus never wavered.

Suddenly explosions caught the team's attention. Michi looked in the direction of the explosions, seeing clouds of smoke cutting through their lines of shinobi. Cries were heard as body parts flew into the air. The enemy was cutting right through their ranks and was coming right for them!

Michi began forming hand signs, knowing he had to protect his group.

Just as one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Jinpachi, cut through the crowd wielding his large blade, Michi activated his barrier. His reptilian armor wrapped in a dome around his team as Jinpachi swung his blade at them.

An explosion was set off, smoke clouding Jinpachi's vision. He thought he blew them to smithereens but his smirk fell when he saw Michi's barrier still intact.

Michi glared from the inside of his barrier at where he had felt the enemy attacked. His two hands were smacked together while he maintained the strength of his barrier. The others in his team stood stunned and observed the structure of his barrier.

Miruko lightly stepped forward touching the dense skin of the barrier. "You surprise me, son. The sheer size and density of our clan's jutsu is not easy to perform outside of our body, not to mention to hold it for this long," Miruko commented, feeling awfully proud of his son.

"No sweat," Michi shook off. "I can hold him, but it won't be beneficial for anyone if we stay trapped inside my barrier."

"He's right," Chiki agreed. She eyed the barrier and her younger cousin. "We need an exit strategy."

"Alright, leave it to me," Miruko mentioned as he performed hands signs.

Immediately he summoned a handful of lizards the size of cats. They dug a hole at their feet, creating an underground passage.

While the team was making their escape, Jinpachi was whacking at Michi's barrier on the outside with his sword. He cursed as he dug his blade into the barrier, hoping to damage it. He wedged the blade in between the scaled rocks. Leaving it there as a new roll of explosive tags covered his blade.

He scowled ready to blow up the barrier as Michi watched the last of his team escape into the underground hole. He fueled more chakra from under his skin, forcibly creating a new layer of armor as he held his barrier.

As the explosion went off, pieces of Michi's dome barrier began to fall. Jinpachi's smile returned as he quickly unveiled more explosive tags and ignited them. The blast blew away significant parts of the barrier and Jinpachi soon felt his blade sliding through the rocks as it fell.

What Jinpachi wasn't expecting was Michi to have taught the blade with his hands. Jinpachi paused at seeing the leaf ninja, before he hastily tried to activate a new line of tags. Michi used the surprised to his advantage and jumped up. He kicked Jinpachi in the chest sending him in the opposite direction and making him lose his hold on his sword.

Michi fell onto his back with the sword in his possession. A new line of explosive tags unraveled onto the sword and Jinpachi used his hand to activate it.

The blade exploded within Michi's grasp while Jinpachi got to his feet. He expected to blue haired shinobi to be disintegrated but was stunned to see him on his feet without a scratch or burn.

"HOW?!" Jinpachi growled.

"The Haruki clan's jutsu is impervious to physical attacks. Your blade can't cut me and neither can your blade burn me," Michi expressed, evenly. He swung the blade and dove it into the ground.

"You piece of shit," Jinpachi cursed as he charged.

"Earth style: Dust Barrage" Miruko called from behind Jinpachi, ready to protect his son as he planted his hands on the ground.

Jinpachi stuttered, coughing and blinking as the dirt invaded his sight. It stalled him and as the dust cleared after a moment, he was thwarted by a hard hit to his face.

"Ninja art. Reptilian Armor Sever," Chiki claimed as her reptilian armor grew back on top of her skin.

The rock that had impeded Jinpachi was shaped like her fist that she had launched at him. She sent two more rock fist formations from her hands. The armor catching Jinpachi by his arms and pinning him to the ground.

The seal team member that Michi had protected was quick to intervene from there. They wrapped Jinpachi in cloth as rapidly as they could all the while he rang curses down on them. Michi witnessed Jinpachi being sealed and his body finally falling silent as his soul was released.

Michi did not breathe a sigh of relief, however. He could not relax… especially not in this war. His dark eyes moved from the captured enemy to scan the battleground. Blood and kunai were littered on the ground in the aftermath. He couldn't save everyone, he remind himself.

Well hope you liked this chapter for Michi's perspective. This was the first time I really wrote from his perspective. Michi is usually a very laid-back individual but he realized in this war he couldn't be. He also faced the reality of why he has such trouble putting in motivation to train because he's afraid of not being able to protect others and he's afraid of failing.

So I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter is back to Saryie for a bit. Then on day two it will be Azumi's chapter.

Please let me know what you think and review.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I own Saryie, Michi, Chiki, Miruko, and Azumi.