Knowledgeable and Powerful and Fucking Furious

@hermadnessmacwrites

63 posts

Guess I'm Just Human Afterall

Read with caution if you're not up to date with the manga

Some habits are hard to break.

For Izuku and Ochako, tucking their suffering safely behind the corners of a smile is practically default at this point. No need to worry the people they've saved when the peace they've earned is still so precarious, right? But sweeping things under the rug hasn't worked out well for society so far, and they've both watched Heroes break and fall after years standing tall and alone amid the Hero Rankings. Maybe it's time to stand together instead.

So why is opening up—even to each other—so hard?

Chapter 1: I must be doing this all wrong

Ochako knows, before the bite of concrete even reaches her fingertips, that this is going to cost her.

She doesn't hesitate. In a flash of pink the weight of the collapsing building vanishes and sinks like a stone into her stomach instead.

For one terrifying moment the world wavers. Black spots dance across her vision, threatening to take over, but Ochako grits her teeth and claws her way back to reality. No self-respecting Hero just gives up with lives on the line.

She won't, either.

The pain in her stomach doubles. Triples. Ochako retches, only barely managing to keep her fingers wrapped around the building's edge. Bile dribbles over the edge of her lips, but she digs her nails deeper into the rough texture instead of wiping it away. She is the only thing keeping this building in place. The only anchor keeping it here — not floating into the sky where it poses a danger to unsuspecting masses.

Not dropping onto the pedestrians they haven't yet evacuated.

Here.

But she can’t hold it forever.

#hermandessmac writes #my hero academia #izuocha week 2022

A Ceiling of Stars to Guide Me Home to You

After a series of unexpected events, Izuku Midoriya finds himself the owner of a pack of glow in the dark ceiling stars. What he'd really like is to give them to Uraraka—the energetic, determined, sweet classmate he's lucky enough to call his friend--but he's new to this whole friendship thing and utterly terrified he's about to screw it all up at any given moment.

But when Uraraka has a bad day, Izuku psyches himself up to lend his shoulder. Heroes put themselves out on a limb to help people everyday, afterall—surely friendship is no different.

It all starts because Izuku’s procrastinating.

There’s no reason for him to linger in the convenience store any longer, but he continues to meander with the lazy gait this Saturday afternoon demands. The protein drink he came in for is already clenched in one hand, condensation dripping down the side. A matcha energy drink he definitely doesn’t need but is curious enough to try is secured in the other.

Instead of hurrying back to his homework, Izuku lets himself gravitate to the card display set up on the aisle’s end cap. Sometimes stores like this discount old card packs to ridiculously cheap prices. When that happens, he doesn’t feel as guilty treating himself to a couple. The odds that the they’ll contain any of the five he still needs to complete his All Might collection are infinitesimally small—and that really only pertains to two, because the others were limited edition prints that either weren’t sold in sets or weren’t printed in Japan—but other Heroes have cool cards he wouldn’t mind adding to his collection.

If nothing else, looking at different art styles is fun.

All the visible packs are full price, unfortunately. One metal hook has fallen off the peg board it was secured to, spilling dozens of sets onto the shelf beneath. Izuku tucks his energy drink into the crook of his elbow so he has a free hand to put it back in place.

None of them are marked down. After hanging the seventeenth pack, Izuku has pretty much given up hope, but he persists, uncomfortable with the idea of leaving a task uncompleted now that he's started.

“There.” He slides the last set home and steps back, partly to admire his handiwork but mostly to ensure he hasn’t missed any, and—yep. Sure enough, there’s a familiar holographic shine around the corner.

As he’s bending to gather the discarded items, he spots them.

He’s not sure why they catch his attention. There’s nothing particularly special about them, and their aged, cracked bag suggests he wouldn’t be the first to overlook them, either. But the plastic stars tickle something deep in his brain, so he squats down for a closer look.

One of the staples holding the label in place rips free as he picks it up. Only Izuku's quick reaction time saves the tiny stars from scattering across the linoleum tiles like a discount galaxy. They’re an off-white color, tinged with faint traces of green like most things manufactured to glow are, and the printed description confirms his suspicions.

Super Stars, the creased cardstock boasts, 200 glow in the dark stars +1 bonus moon!

“Uraraka would love these,” Izuku murmurs with a smile, and suddenly he knows exactly why this beat-up bag of ceiling adhesives caught his attention.

#hermadnessmac writes #my hero acedemia #long post #IzuOcha Fic #I am terrible at keeping everything up to date

Automatic Lights and Delayed Realizations

The recent installation of motion-activated light sensors across UA caused more chaos that Class 2-A originally intended.

They activated off at the drop of a hat, literally. When Jirou suggested blaming the hypersensitive lights on a fabled rock ghost, the oversensitive lights suddenly weren't as worrisome. They quickly became another quirk of dorm life — like the stolen snacks and shower sandals and soft snores that echoed through the walls at night.

It was all in good fun.

Until it wasn't.

Izuku looked up as the hall light clicked on again, pencil clenched tightly in his grip.

“Bet'cha one answer that there’s someone in the hall this time,” Ochako said, not giving Izuku a chance to respond before bounding from her bed to the doorway. He lurched from his seat as Uraraka poked her head into the hall, heart lodged somewhere in his throat. It was dumb. There was no reason for him to this worked up over wonky electricity connections, but—

“Aw, man. No one again,” Uraraka whined dramatically, wilting against the door frame. She recovered quickly — spinning around and clapping her hands enthusiastically — but the tightness around her eyes belied her mutual unease. “So! Stuck on anything?”

Izuku let Uraraka snatch his physics homework without resistance, mind still somewhere in the hallway.

When all was said and done, everyone agreed that the automatic lights in the 2-A dormitory hallways and staircases were a terrible idea.

A conclusion made only more painful by the fact that the students themselves had advocated for their installation. It was a trivial thing to get up in arms about, in retrospect. UA certainly had the funding to keep all their buildings lit, if their ever increasing defenses were any indication, but Kaminari gave a presentation on the widespread effects of commercial energy waste one day, and it snowballed from there.

The widespread negligence horrified Class 2-A into action. Maybe they were nosy Hero students. Maybe, as a generation, they were particularly sensitive to letting issues fester these days. Maybe they were bored. In the end, it didn't matter. They cared, suddenly and ferociously, about driving down UA's contribution to the issue. The presentation kicked off two months of research, campaigns, and presentations to Board members that culminated in the installation of over five hundred motion activated light sensors across the entirety of UA's campus.

And they worked!

...for the most part.

Because of the range of Quirks and body types UA catered to, the motion sensors the school purchased were designed with an extremely low limit of detection. The good news was the sensors were as sensitive as advertised. Hagakure boasted she was able to activate the hall lights wearing nothing but a pair of bangle bracelets. Questions as to when or why Hagakure conducted such experiments were neatly and summarily dodged.

The bad news was that the lights were as sensitive as advertised.

“I think you’re off by a factor of two here somewhere.” Uraraka tapped his homework, drawing Izuku back from his musings. He blinked, then focused on the scrawl of equations under Uraraka's fingertip.

Ah. This question.

“Really?” He’d been so confident in his workflow. “What’d you get?”

“Fourteen.” She offered him her notebook so he could look over her work. His eyes bounced between the two papers.

It surprised him at first. For someone so cute, he'd expected Uraraka's handwriting to be…neater. Not that he could talk. Iida was perpetually annoyed with them both. Anyway, he had enough practice reading her handwriting that he could tell their work was identical right up until…

“Ugh,” Izuku groaned, dragging the eraser over the second half of his work. “I totally did.” But fourteen was a weird answer for this problem, considering the — aha. “You forgot to account for the acceleration, though.”

“Acceleration?” She frowned, more at her notebook than him, then leaned over the desk to read the problem out of his open textbook.

“I forgot gravity!”

He snorted. This recurring problem for Uraraka — common enough that it'd become something of an inside joke among the class — was even more entertaining considering her Quirk.

“Oh hush,” Uraraka huffed, puffing out her cheeks in annoyance. It only made her look cuter, though Izuku had no intention of telling her. She snapped her notebook closed and spun on her heel to stomp back to her bed. “No more physics help for you!”

“I could say the same thing,” he found himself teasing back. Everything was easier with Uraraka.

Light vanished from the hallway, darkening Ochako’s doorway once more. Both students’ attention immediately flicked to it, the sudden darkness, searching for an answer that never appeared. The easy atmosphere vanished entirely, vacuumed up as if the inky blackness waiting just outside the door was the void of space itself.

Ridiculous to think that two Heroes in training could be shaken so quickly. They’d argued for this. They’d fought for these dark hallways because it felt like the right thing to do, but … this wasn’t right. Unease dripped down his spine like a continuous shiver, and Izuku couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t safe to turn his back on the hallway. He didn’t miss the way Uraraka’s jaw clenched, either.

The darkness itself wasn't the issue. Izuku knew these halls well enough to navigate them without a flicker of light as his guide, they all did, but it served as an insistent reminder of the mysteries lurking just out of sight.

After all, three different electricians spent a week on site, and none of them found any issues with the lights. As far as anyone could tell, everything was wired perfectly.

“Koda thinks insects could be triggering the lights,” Izuku offered, still watching the doorway. “Not flies or anything, but — like, moths and spiders.” It would certainly explain the number of times he’d watched a light click on — in the stairwell, in the hallway — only for no one to appear around the corner.

“I like that better’n Mina’s theory, anyway.” Uraraka abandoned her homework and wrapped her arms loosely around her knees. “Why would a new construction have ghosts?”

Izuku chuckled, but it felt hollow. He couldn’t quite summon the same amusement from earlier. “Wouldn’t someone had to have died here…?”

“Exactly!” Uraraka exclaimed, pointing at him like he’d made her point for her. “Why would a ghost start hauntin’ UA now all the sudden?”

They launched into an avid discussion of the reasons Mina’s theory was ridiculous. UA had never suffered rumors of hauntings, even as long lived as the campus was, and it wasn’t like the school was built on a cemetery or anything. Probably. And anyway, why would a ghost start haunting them months after construction was finished? They raised and countered every argument they could think to offer with a single-minded focus that undermined their dismissiveness. Neither stopped to consider why they were both so determined to disprove this explanation in particular. They ignored the creeping sensation that peeked its head up and hummed, Something here is not quite right.

No, it had to be the bugs.

Read the rest on Ao3

#hermadnessmac writes #my hero academia #long post #IzuOcha Fic #suspense #Automatic Lights and Delayed Realizations #ambiguous ending

I always feel an overwhelming urge to take a snapshot when my fics hit "fun numbers" of kudos. The support for my writing is a big part of the resulting smiles but also my sense of humor is trash 😂😂

Lol, thanks everyone!

Link for nsfw IzuOcha fic "They All Know My Name"

Link for nsfw NaruSasuSaku "A Game of Puzzles"

#hermadnessmac writes #a game of puzzles (making the pieces fit)#they all know my name (but I wanna hear you say it)#I'm going to continue giggling over here in my corner #thanks for reading everyone!

They All Know My Name (But I Wanna Hear You Say It)

Drawing lines between the personal and professional is hard, and Izuku struggles with how much of himself he's willing to share with the world. It takes a Color Run and round of semi-public sex for Ochako to remind him that they belong together—regardless of the personas they wear.

Excited murmurs pressed in against Deku as he idly scanned the crowd for the twelfth time in so many minutes.

And he was Deku today, even if the lack of costume might normally suggest otherwise.

Musutafu's First Annual Color, a ‘Celebration of the Diversity of Quirks' organized by Pro Heroes Pinky and Invisible Girl, was an official event. Since he'd officially volunteered his time, that meant his presence was in official Hero capacity. He repeated this to himself as he fiddled anxiously with the compression sleeve that covered everything to his elbow these days, trying to lock his Hero persona in place. Appearances like this—stripped bare of his uniform with only his Hero name to protect his privacy from the public—were much more commonplace now. Which Deku—Izuku (both?)—supported wholeheartedly in theory.

Somewhere along the way, society had forgotten that Heroes were human, too. They’d been raised on pedestals, higher and higher until the faces in the clouds could no longer be made out on the streets below. That misinformation spread across counties and countries alike until the Heroes themselves believed it. The internalized lie had ugly and far-reaching consequences. This didn’t just take the form of Heroes abusing their positions of power, although it was very clear now that many had, but also manifested in the Heroes who tore themselves into smaller and smaller pieces for public consumption until there was no hint left of the person who once put on the costume.

So there was a deeper purpose to these appearances. A reminder to the public that there was a human being tucked away behind the spandex and support gear. A reminder to the Heroes that they themselves were more than their career. Both were important components in bridging the divide that had formed between the public and their protectors. They had different roles, but they were one community. It was important to remember that.

...kinda uncomfortable, though.

And that’s where the “in theory” part of his support kicked in.

Because the truth was, there wasn't space for Izuku Midoriya in the public sphere. Not on the whole, at least. It was his job to break his personality down to bite sized pieces. Which bits could he share to humanize himself without reminding everyone how fragile that humanity actually was? He could give a speech advocating for the rights of Quirkless individuals but had to avoid ever raising his voice on the topic. He could be open about his weekly therapy appointments but had to hide any symptom that hinted at why he might need them. It was a game of boundaries and control and restraint, in the end.

It was exhausting.

Read the rest on AO3

#hermadnessmac writes #izuochasmutweek2021 #izuochansfw2021 #izuocha smut #nsfw #long post #read on ao3

Why Do You Feel So Close (But You’re Oh So Far Away?)

Major manga spoilers in this fic

Rescue missions aren’t the sprint that combat missions are, Ochako is quickly learning. Rescue missions are a marathon. And, yes, time is still an important factor, but on her track, endurance—of her body, of her mind, of her spirit—reigns supreme.

The fact of the matter is, Ochako's tired. She's tired, on so many levels, but mostly she's tired of this limbo. Her life is on hold. No matter how she chooses to fill her time, Ochako knows she's just biding time: waiting for another attack, waiting for the cities to be put back together again, waiting for school to start.

Waiting for Deku to wake up.

—x—Day 1—x—

"Oh Deku," Ochako breathes, taking in the sight of the boy before her.

Visiting Izuku in the hospital isn’t a new experience, but he’s truly outdone himself this time. Thick, white plaster encases each of his limbs. Even if he was conscious, Ochako thinks Deku would struggle to move the heavy weights. That's probably the reason for the pulley system keeping each appendage suspended off the mattress. Either that, or the medical staff doesn’t want to put any more stress on his shattered bones.

Ochako's stomach, already sensitive from a full day of using her Quirk, rolls. Why does it always end like this? Too much first-hand experience with Deku's injuries means she doesn't have to imagine the damage hiding underneath the plaster. Flashbacks of blackened flesh and the unstructured movement of boneless arms parade through her head like a horrifying slideshow.

It's the USJ all over again. It's the summer training camp. UA's entrance exam. Their first Hero training—Stain.

Why does it always end up like this?

No matter what choice she makes. No matter how she tries to help him, somehow Ochako always ends up...here. Standing in front of Deku's hospital bed.

#hermadnessmac writes #My Hero Academia #IzuOcha #IzuOcha fic

A Game of Puzzles (Making the Pieces Fit) Chapter 5

Summary: With the war over and Sasuke home again, Sakura is more hopeful for Team 7’s future than she has been in a long time. She’s quickly disappointed to find that nothing in the Village fits quite like it used to—not her old bedroom, not her clothes, and definitely not Team 7. Join Sakura as she scrambles to understand her place in this new team dynamic.If she has a place there at all.

-OR-

It takes three dorks a painfully long time after moving in together to realize that they all belong together.

Confidence is really not her thing.

Actually, confidence has always been Sakura’s problem so it should be no surprise that her heart is practically hammering out of her chest as sits in her usual spot on their couch. Both Sasuke and Naruto have joined her at her request—Sasuke in his chair and Naruto on the side of the couch closest the door—and wear expressions that reveal varying levels of concern. She doesn’t blame them. Sakura’s fairly concerned herself.

They’re going to talk. Finally.

And by talk, she means that she’s going to try confessing to the both—again—and pray it doesn’t blow up in all of their faces like it has every other time so far. She’s terrified, but the time is finally right. This isn’t a desperate heat-of-the-moment confession, squeaked out on the battlefield because there might not be another chance, but something she’s carved time out for. Actually having time to consider her actions is a whole new level of terrifying, for sure, but for the first time Sakura actually feels...well, not confident but something close to that.

There’s no guarantee that this will go the way she wants it to. Even with all the clues Sakura thinks she’s managed to piece together, the only people who can tell her how they feel are Naruto and Sasuke themselves, but at least she can rest assured that she gave them her best shot.

#hermadnessmac writes #Team 7 ot3 #Team 7 moves in together #NaruSasuSaku #A Game of Puzzles (Making the Pieces Fit)#read on ao3 #nsfw

A Game of Puzzles (Making the Pieces Fit) Chapter 4

Summary: With the war over and Sasuke home again, Sakura is more hopeful for Team 7’s future than she has been in a long time. She’s quickly disappointed to find that nothing in the Village fits quite like it used to—not her old bedroom, not her clothes, and definitely not Team 7. Join Sakura as she scrambles to understand her place in this new team dynamic.

If she has a place there at all.

-OR-

It takes three dorks a painfully long time after moving in together to realize that they all belong together.

It’s the first time Sakura remembers October 10th ever being this...jovial.

The streets are always crowded this time of year, but the laughter seems oddly out of place. Gone are the mournful monochromatic clothes she’s used to. Everything she looks at—the clothes, the storefronts, the people—is so bright she has to work to avoid squinting.

“Oooh, Sakura, look, there’s a dango stand!”

Brightest of all is Naruto. He’s actually wearing less orange than usual, having been convinced into a pair of dark tan pants, but his expression more than makes up for the loss. Each street vendor and colored lantern is taken in with equal amounts of awe. He looks like a kid at his first birthday party, which…

...it’s a painfully accurate description. Sakura tries not to think about it.

“Didn’t you just eat like five bowls of ramen?” she teases. Naruto opens his mouth and closes it, looking for an excuse, but Sakura elbows him lightly in the side. “Just kidding, let’s go grab some. I heard they were going to add a new flavor today, too.”

#hermadnessmac writes #Team 7 ot3 #NaruSasuSaku #Team 7 moves in together #A Game of Puzzles (Making the Pieces Fit)#Read on AO3

A Game of Puzzles (Making the Pieces Fit) Chapter 3

Summary: With the war over and Sasuke home again, Sakura is more hopeful for Team 7’s future than she has been in a long time. She’s quickly disappointed to find that nothing in the Village fits quite like it used to—not her old bedroom, not her clothes, and definitely not Team 7. Join Sakura as she scrambles to understand her place in this new team dynamic.

If she has a place there at all.

-OR-

It takes three dorks a painfully long time after moving in together to realize that they all belong together.

"Sakura-chaaaaaan!" a familiar voice echoes down the halls of the hospital.

The medics shadowing her do their best to stifle their giggles, or at least try to pass them off as a sudden bout of coughs, but their amusement is clear.

"That's all for now," Sakura declares, doing her best to ignore the knowing looks being passed back and forth like candy. The flush that rises to her cheeks is inescapable. "It looks like I'm needed in a last minute meeting."

No attempts are made to conceal their laughter now. Sakura graces them with a self-deprecating half-smile before departing from the group. Naruto's voice bounces off the walls again, and Sakura rolls her eyes fondly—heels clacking rapidly against tile floors as she picks up her pace. He's lucky she just wrapped up her examination.

"What kind of idiot yells in a hospital?" she shouts, fully aware of the hypocrisy of the statement. Answering Naruto any other way just feels lackluster. And anyway, this is her domain. Surely she can bend the rules on special occasions.

#hermadnessmac writes #Team 7 ot3 #Team 7 moves in together #NaruSasuSaku #A Game of Puzzles (Making the Pieces Fit)

A Game of Puzzles (Making the Pieces Fit) Chapter 2

Summary: With the war over and Sasuke home again, Sakura is more hopeful for Team 7’s future than she has been in a long time. She’s quickly disappointed to find that nothing in the Village fits quite like it used to—not her old bedroom, not her clothes, and definitely not Team 7. Join Sakura as she scrambles to understand her place in this new team dynamic.

If she has a place there at all.

-OR-

It takes three dorks a painfully long time after moving in together to realize that they all belong together.

It takes six months for Sasuke’s trial to finally be settled.

They’ve been barred from attending the trial themselves—for apparently being too disruptive to the court process—so Naruto and Sakura are waiting at the base of the court steps when Sasuke comes blinking out into sunlight for the first time since he was locked away. He pauses, giving his eyes time to adjust, and that’s long enough for his team to decide that no handcuffs is good news. They barrel into him, crushing him into a hug on either side.

Sasuke scoffs like he can’t believe how ridiculous they are, but he doesn’t pull away.

“I’m on probation for a year,” he tells them quietly. Sakura feels the words rumble through his chest, and his heartbeat is tapping a steady pace against her cheek. Sasuke is home, he’s actually in her arms, and the realization brings a rush of relief that unlocks something deep in her soul. The next breath she sucks in expands her ribcage farther than she thought was possible, but so does the one after that, and Sakura has to wonder if she’s been holding her breath since the moment Sasuke left her on that cold stone bench years ago. If this is what it feels like to be whole.

Love. It has to be. She still loves him.

#hermadnessmac writes #Team 7 ot3 #NaruSasuSaku #Team 7 moves in together #A Game of Puzzles (Making the Pieces Fit)#Read on AO3

A Game of Puzzles (Making the Pieces Fit) Chapter 1

Summary: With the war over and Sasuke home again, Sakura is more hopeful for Team 7's future than she has been in a long time. She's quickly disappointed to find that nothing in the Village fits quite like it used to—not her old bedroom, not her clothes, and definitely not Team 7. Join Sakura as she scrambles to understand her place in this new team dynamic.

If she has a place there at all.

-OR-

It takes three dorks a painfully long time after moving in together to realize that they all belong together.

Sakura lasts all of one week in her pretty pastel childhood room after the shinobi forces return.

It’s not that she doesn’t love her parents. She does. When she walked in her front door for the first time in months to find them reading books side-by-side in the living room, as if nothing at all had happened, Sakura burst into tears. Wrapped in their arms, listening to the meaningless babble pressed comfortingly into her scalp, she couldn’t help but sob harder.

Thankful.

Somehow two civilians survived two invasions and a war when so many of her friends—Ino, oh god, Ino—are coming home to empty spaces.

Lucky. She’s so lucky.

The bento box set aside for her in the fridge has a smiley face drawn on the outside, and Sakura smiles right back when she sees it. There’s a note scrawled on the inside, too—or so she was informed. Sakura wolfed the food down in three minutes flat—a personal best—between surgeries and missed it entirely. Her mom says she understands. Her dad does, too. They pinch her cheeks or ruffle her hair and tell her that they’re so proud of their talented daughter. Sakura has made a career of more than medicine, though, and their crestfallen expressions—however brief—hurt.

#hermadnessmac writes #Team 7 ot3 #A Game of Puzzles (Making the Pieces Fit)#read on ao3

Chidorillator Chapter 6

Title: Chidorillator Summary: A request from Sakura for Sasuke to teach her the chidori opens up a whole bigger can of worms than she was expecting. Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto. Rating: T Warning(s): Mentions of war, death, and some foul language

| Chapter 1| Chapter 2| Chapter 3| Chapter 4| Chapter 5| Chapter 6|

“Show me what you can do,” Sasuke demanded the moment the duo’s feet hit the clearing.

Sakura eyed him suspiciously. In their short sprint to the impromptu training grounds, she could have sworn his breathing was much sharper than it needed to be. His eyes would also tighten at random intervals--miniscule enough that most would miss it and the others who did notice would just think he was annoyed. The few years she’d been his teammate had not been wasted, however, and Sakura knew that this was not his annoyed neutral expression. It was almost as if he was in pain…

When Sasuke's breath hitched as he crossed his arms over his chest, Sakura’s eyes narrowed further. He was in pain! That idiot, why hadn’t he told her? He had to know she would heal him no matter what, since she had spent hours put his body back together just days ag--oh.

Oh.

She had healed him just days ago--completely, in fact. The only thing that should be troubling him now was exhaustion, for the most part. Since then, Sakura had it on good authority that the last Uchiha had remained mostly in his “tent.” While it was possible that Naruto and Sasuke had got into some sort of squabble since the end of the war, she distinctly remembered someone else getting physical with her old teammate.

Her.

When she poked him hard enough to fracture his ribcage.

And then walked away without so much as offering to heal it.

The chances of him actually asking another medic were laughably small, which meant he was still probably dealing with the damage she’d dealt him. Sakura huffed, feeling somewhere between exasperated and guilty, which caused Sasuke to raise one questioning eyebrow in her direction. Smothering another sigh, she began to walk purposefully towards him. His hand twitched as she approached, as if looking for Kusanagi, but settled for shifting just enough that his shoulder would take the brunt of an attack.

Sakura slowed down, confused by his reaction. Sasuke had been challenging her to show him her chidori, not to spar with him. That had been clear. So did he really think Sakura would attack him now? Without any sort of provocation?

Days ago--or had it been just yesterday? Time seemed to be playing tricks on her--when she felt like she could spit fire she was so angry with him, Sasuke’s wariness would have been satisfying. The vindictive portion or her would have wanted to see Sasuke acknowledge her as a potential threat.

But things had changed--Sasuke being one of them.

#Naruto-verse #hermadnessmac writes #sasusaku #fanfiction #chidorillator #multichap

Chidorilator Chapter 5

Title: Chidorilator Summary: A request from Sakura for Sasuke to teach her the chidori opens up a whole bigger can of worms than she was expecting. Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto. Prompt: This fic has been abandoned for so long that the original post that inspired it was deleted. Previously sakurackerman (now @ciribi?) once wondered what would happen if Sakura used the chidori as a defibrillator on the field. Rating: T Warning(s): Mentions of war, death, and some foul language

| Chapter 1| Chapter 2| Chapter 3| Chapter 4| Chapter 5|

For the first time in a very long while, Sakura felt warm and comfortable.

The soles of her feet weren’t throbbing, she wasn’t entertaining a pulsing headache, and her muscles weren’t spasming randomly. Instead the constant adrenaline and caffeine induced buzz that spanned her whole body, Sakura felt blissful nothingness. The exhausted fog that had hung over her thoughts and actions like a wet blanket had been removed. While her thoughts weren’t sharp or clear yet, it seemed more like her head had been enveloped in a plush comforter—or cotton balls—and they were slowly being pulled away.

Like she was waking up.

The thought removed the rest of the cotton balls clouding her mind in a hurry, and Sakura was struck with the sudden realization that she was indeed waking up. Her eyelids still felt heavy and stuck together, but the surge of panic that blasted through her system helped her to open her eyes all the way.

Where was she? How long had she been out? Was she supposed to be operating? Who was on shift? What time was it? When was her next scheduled operation? Was it now? Why hadn’t anyone come and gotten her yet?

Sakura’s heart felt like it was racing a million miles an hour, and the area in her immediate vision was hazy and out of focus. Every cell in her body was screaming move! but without a clear sense of direction or threat. Her pupils were dilated to near the point of enveloping the viridian hue that surrounded them, and every hair on dusting her skin raised.

Breathe. The deep gulp of air Sakura forced into her lungs helped drive down the blind panic that had engulfed her. She blinked a couple times and pushed herself to actually take in her surroundings.

A half circle of wooden chairs. Familiar sketches of the surrounding area and medical tents. Her standard black pants and long-sleeved shirt on the floor. Crème canvas walls that fluttered in the slight breeze.

She was in her tent.

Now secure in her surroundings, the adrenaline and fear emptied her system in a rush, leaving her to sag bonelessly against her brick of a bed. Sakura might have just woken up, but there was no way she was going to trick herself into thinking she was rested. Yawning heavily, Sakura determined that if she was needed, someone would have summoned her by now. Although it bothered her that she didn’t remember falling asleep, she didn’t seem to be in any danger. So, she snuggled closer into her threadbare pillow and tried to fall back asleep.

But couldn’t.

Sakura was safe in her own tent, swathed in the perfect amount of blankets, and she was still tired enough that she didn’t even mind the scratchy material of her pillow. Still, there was this insistent nagging in the back of her mind that pushed for her to leave her comfortable cocoon. Scowling, Sakura rubbed her face into her bed like she was trying to remove the annoying—and very demanding—impulse to get out of bed.

Why would she leave her bed when she had absolutely nowhere to b—

With a painful thud, Sakura’s heart thudded to a stop in her chest and she flew up from her pillow with an angry, meaningless shriek. The blanket she’d been so comfortable in before was nothing but a hindrance now, and she struggled to move her limbs as fast as she could.

How the fuck could I forget?! Sakura punched her arm through her shirt with nearly enough force to tear through the fabric. Her pants got the same rough treatment (she did not remember hanging them there), and she was still struggling with a sandal as she pushed through the fabric door to her tent.

Sasuke was going to kill her!

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Chidorilator Chapter 4

Title: Chidorilator Summary: A request from Sakura for Sasuke to teach her the chidori opens up a whole bigger can of worms than she was expecting. Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto. Prompt: Headcanon where Sakura learns chidori from Sasuke in order to use it on the field as a defibrillator (by sakurackerman) Rating: T Warning(s): Mentions of war, death, and some foul language

| Chapter 1| Chapter 2| Chapter 3| Chapter 4| Chapter 5|

For some reason, Sakura missing their meeting was something Sasuke never accounted for.

Three hours had passed since Sasuke had witnessed Sakura sobbing her heart out outside the medical tent. Makeshift dummies fashioned out of broken tree limbs were now scattered around Sakura’s chosen training field. Since scorch marks and gaping holes in the earth were already a consistent theme of the décor, he couldn’t imagine anyone complaining about a couple suddenly scraggly looking trees.

Complaining about an absent sparring partner, though, that was a completely different story.

Grinding his teeth, Sasuke pushed off the tree he had been leaning against. He was angry—livid, actually. Despite the fact that Sakura was only meeting him to train, Sasuke couldn’t help but feel that he had been stood up. This, in turn, only made him angrier. Why should he care Sakura was a no-show? It was her loss, not his.

It was just because he put so much time into preparing for their session, he told himself. Sasuke had spent an hour thinking about the best way to teach the chidori to her. Half the techniques Kakashi had used with him wouldn’t work with Sakura, simply because she didn’t have the sharingan. Visualization had always been a key part in understanding a jutsu for him, though, so he thought if she could give Sakura a target for her chidori, it would be easier. Thus, the crude tree-mannequins.

Which, apparently, had been a total waste of time. Sasuke felt like an idiot. He’d dedicated far too much time preparing for this session, and he had been waiting for an hour after the agreed time to boot. Enough was enough, he was going home.

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Chidorilator Chapter 3

Title: Chidorilator Summary: A request from Sakura for Sasuke to teach her the chidori opens up a whole bigger can of worms than she was expecting. Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto. If I did, there would be Uchiha babies by now. Prompt: Headcanon where Sakura learns chidori from Sasuke in order to use it on the field as a defibrillator (by sakurackerman) Rating: T Warning(s): Mentions of war, death, and some foul language Author’s Note: Thanks to cumberwho-and-johnlock for being my amazing beta and rediscovering this fic! Also, this will be a multichap so stay posted!

| Chapter 1| Chapter 2| Chapter 3| Chapter 4| Chapter 5|

“Conscious” probably wasn’t the correct term to apply to Sakura at this moment in time. Determined to make progress with the chidori, she had trained until the sun went down without pause. By now, Sakura had been on her feet for a grand total of 32 hours straight, and her body was beginning to feel the effects.

At least I made some progress! Sakura thought, using a hand to cover her wide yawn.

Eight hours in the forest had not gone unrewarded. By the time she walked out, Sakura was consistently forcing her chakra to flicker about her hand in the desired shape. What she lacked was the chakra nature to then force it into electricity.

Despite the bone-tired weariness that coursed through her body, Sakura felt slightly optimistic. In her hospital shift before her training, she hadn’t lost any patients, and then she’d made actual leeway in her quest for the perfect chidori defibrillator.

A chidorilator, she mused tiredly, a giggle bubbling up her throat. Two nurses paused in their rounds to look at her skeptically, and she hurriedly staunched her laughter and ducked into a walkway between tents to avoid more judgmental stares. Once out of sight, she patted her cheeks firmly three times and shook her head to wake up before dispensing a soldier pill from its canister at her side. The pill fell just short of her mouth, however, when a frowning Sakura pulled it back.

Maybe I need to take a quick nap, Sakura reflected while rolling the soldier pill through her fingers contemplatively; she now doubted her decision to come straight to the hospital after training. It was hypocritical, warning shinobi against over-using the chakra stimulants while she downed them like water. A rueful smile graced her lips.

“Only for emergencies, right?” Sakura asked the air, repeating the words she delivered to every shinobi before they left on extended missions.

The tiny granules of chemical compounds composing her moral dilemma shifted in their red sugar coating. Yes, Sakura knew what was in the pills and how it worked; even better, Sakura knew what the pills did to a person in the long run: degradation of chakra pathways, decrease in chakra control, and organ failure were only a few of the effects.

So why was she even thinking about taking another one?

If she was honest, Sakura could admit that she was running herself into the ground. Sleep deprivation had its nasty share of side effects, and caffeine could only act as a supplement for so long. Combine that with her recent pill popping party, and even non-medics could spot her particular recipe for disaster.

Sighing, Sakura lifted her gaze from the pill to gaze upon the sea of tents surrounding her. She knew it was bad for her health to continue on as she was, truly, it was just…she didn't care.

How could she justify taking a break as hundreds of shinobi lay fighting for their lives? Was her sleep really worth the futures of the comrades she could be saving?

“Sakura-chan? Is that you over there?” a familiar voice called.

Without hesitating a second longer, Sakura raised the pill to her mouth and swallowed it dry.

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Chidorilator Chapter 2

Title: Chidorilator Summary: A request from Sakura for Sasuke to teach her the chidori opens up a whole bigger can of worms than she was expecting. Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto. If I did, there would be Uchiha babies by now. Prompt: Headcanon where Sakura learns chidori from Sasuke in order to use it on the field as a defibrillator (by sakurackerman) Rating: T Warning(s): Mentions of war, death, and some foul language Author’s Note: Thanks to cumberwho-and-johnlock for being my amazing beta and rediscovering this fic! Also, this will be a multichap so stay posted!

|Chapter 1| Chapter 2| Chapter 3| Chapter 4| Chapter 5|

The stench of burnt flesh consumed the air of the clearing. Two ninja swathed in black faced off, backed by broken and singed trees and ground-a testament to their hours of training. The petal-haired woman’s locks were stained darker with sweat, and the only sound to be heard was harsh panting from the quivering young woman.

“Arrrgh!” Sakura grunted, agonized but determined. She was beginning to sway on her feet, but she hadn’t made an inch of progress yet. Concerned, Kakashi stepped forward, but Sakura backed away from him, waving off his anxiety the flick of a single hand.

“I can get this, Kakashi-sensei, I can, just one more try!” her previously shaky legs widened into a larger stance, and she gripped her right wrist with her left hand.

As Kakashi had warned, it was difficult to tease the chakra out from her body. With chakra scalpels and healing it was different, sure, her chakra was formed outside her body, but it always had a shape-a definable edge. This, this was completely the opposite; to successfully complete the chidori she had to somehow select thin wires of her built up chakra and coax them into flicking around of their own accord, then allowing the transition from chakra to electricity.

“Fuck, ow!” she cursed, shaking her burning wrist. Failing was not the desired outcome, as the chakra Sakura had built up had a tendency to explode in a molten burst. The target of such an outburst was the skin the chakra had built up around. It was fair to say that Sakura’s wrist was now a mess of half-healed, nearly-second-if-not-third-degree burns.

“Sakura, this was a great idea, but I don’t think it’s going to work out,” Kakashi began, his tone extremely gentle without seeming condescending, “It’s just-you’re not an electric type. If I had to guess I’d say you were either earth or water, but I know it’s not electricity.”

“Goddammit, there has to be some way around it!” Sakura began to focus her chakra in her aching wrist once more, only for sleep deprivation and chakra exhaustion to force her to her knees.

Hands were immediately on her shoulders, helping her up, and a small, immature portion of herself wanted nothing more than to swat him away. This is why she hadn’t wanted Kakashi as a teacher. Sure, he was a lot easier to convince, but she didn’t need someone who balked at the sight of her in pain. Sakura needed results; she needed someone who would look at her singed wrist and shaky legs, curl his lip and say, ‘You’re doing it wrong. Try again.’

Of course, Kakashi was the only one helping her, and her gentle nature allowed her to thank him as she rose to her feet with his assistance-albeit stiffly. Seeing both of Kakashi’s eyes at one time was odd, and it would definitely take some getting used too, although the worry the contained was all too familiar. Here it came, the 'Take care of yourself, Sakura-chan’ lecture.

“Sakura,” Kakashi began, his tone taking on his 'sensei’ voice, “You really should get some r-”

“I don’t have time for rest, Kakashi-sensei,” Sakura snapped, popping a soldier pill from the container in her pouch. Her tone had Kakashi straightening in shock, and Sakura flinched internally.

Making Kakashi guilty wasn’t in her plans, but she’d be lying if there wasn’t a little resentment there as well. He was just as bad as Naruto and Sasuke when it came down to it, always pushing her back out of the way of harm. Really, what had Kakashi done for her as a genin besides pat her on the head, falsely console her, tell her she had great chakra control and talent for genjutsu, and then leave her? As soon as Naruto and Sasuke left, Kakashi had been gone. At least he had found a teacher for Naruto, but she…

Managed it on my own, Sakura thought firmly, ridding her head of pointless accusations. She was here now, and that was all that mattered.

Jerkily, Sakura bowed before leaving, “Thank you for your time. I’m sorry it was a wasted effort. I’ll be at the hospital if anyone needs me.”

No, this wasn’t Kakashi’s fault, but Sakura wasn’t in the mood to sit and smooth things over, either. This was her only plan, and it was failing, and she had missed eight hours of hospital rotation for absolutely no progress of any kind.

Maybe the hospital would be in better condition today

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Chidorilator Chapter 1

Title: Chidorilator Summary: A request from Sakura for Sasuke to teach her the chidori opens up a whole bigger can of worms than she was expecting. Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto. If I did, there would be Uchiha babies by now. Prompt: Headcanon where Sakura learns chidori from Sasuke in order to use it on the field as a defibrillator (by sakurackerman) Rating: T Warning(s): Mentions of war, death, and some foul language Author’s Note: Thanks to cumberwho-and-johnlock for being my amazing beta and rediscovering this fic! Also, this will be a multichap so stay posted!

|Chapter 1| Chapter 2| Chapter 3| Chapter 4| Chapter 5|

Crimson rivulets ran from her fingers into the clear water in which she bathed them. The once-pristine liquid turned pink and then a darker maroon as she continued to wash. Tainted. Just like everything else. While the thought crossed her mind, it didn’t paralyze her like it used to, and she wondered if she should worry-if she was finally too far gone.

The loose blood removed, she scrubbed angrily at the stubborn, half-congealed chunks located beneath her nails, between her fingers, and wedged in the crease of her elbow. They clung stubbornly, and it took several passes with the rag temporarily replacing her loofa to completely remove them from her skin.

Finally freed, Sakura felt no satisfaction as she watched the remnants of her patient spiral down the shower drain. One more patient lost. One more casualty of the war.

Growling angrily, Sakura massaged her new Byakugo no In seal. This was getting ridiculous. She was losing patients to heart attacks right and left, and she had no idea what to do. With a sigh, Sakura rested her head on the cool tile of the shower while the scalding water pounded over her fatigued body. She needed to think.

It’s not that she didn’t know how to treat heart attack patients, it was that they didn’t have enough medics or chakra to keep using their current methods. Generally, medics would stimulate a patient’s heart with gentle waves of chakra into a more regular rhythm. After being exposed to so many different types of chakra during the war, however, responses to foreign chakra deep within their system were violent-so violent that often the severity of the attack was increased.

Then there was the problem that the medics simply didn’t have the energy or focus to keep up such labor intensive methods. It took dedication and focus to mold the waves into the right type of shape and gently work a patient down from an attack.

Most medics at this point were walking zombies; her stubbornness was the only thing keeping her from recognizing the deep purple bags under her own eyes, and the patients succumbing to heart failure was breaking records. She’d been running from building to building, performing the same demanding procedure all her medics had been too tired to achieve.

And even she only had a 75% success rate at this point.

When the water’s temperature spiked a little too low for her comfort, Sakura jerked back from the wall and hurriedly ran her hands through her hair. If her half-hearted methods failed to remove all the blood, sweat, and grime, Sakura couldn’t bring herself to care; it’d be the same in a matter of hours.

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