Literally just a collection of Shisaku drabbles that aren't long enough to be posted as a single fic.

Sakura shut the door behind her and slid down, her hands trembling. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying in vain to keep the tears at bay. Don't cry, she berated herself. Don't cry, don't cry.

Unbidden, a sob escaped her lips and she covered her face, pressing her hands to her face in shame. She was so weak. She had already failed, already disappointed her team, and she was here crying instead of being useful. God, she thought that she had gotten past this, all she ever did was cry and she was supposed to be strong now.

"Sakura!"

She stiffened. The frantic knocks on the door she was leaning against jostled her huddled form.

She cleared her throat. "I'm busy!" Her voice cracked and Sakura winced, pressing her face to her knees in embarrassment.

There's silence, and Sakura feels his presence leave. She sniffed. Sakura wasn't sure whether she's relieved or disappointed that he had followed her wishes.

She wrapped her arms around her legs, her sobs stifled by sheer will, her chest aching as she's left alone to her tears and the despair that's slowly swallowing her up.

She heard the window of her office open and her head snapped up, her eyes wide. Shisui is there on the ledge of her window, his shirt still messy with blood and his hair matted with kami knew what. His features were lined with exhaustion and worry, his eyes unbearably tired from everything they had gone through in the past few hours.

"Sakura," he said softly, and carefully, slowly, he approached her. Slow was never a word that anyone used in describing Shisui, and seeing him so thoughtful of her state now, aware that using his shunshin to be at her side would only aggravate her, just makes her cry even more.

He crouched down in front of her and held out his arms. His movements were purposeful, each and every twitch of his muscles plainly advertised as if she was a wild animal easily spooked.

A moment passed where they just stare at each other, the few feet distance between them a yawning canyon before Sakura let out another sob and launched herself at him. He caught her easily, rocking back into his heels before he fell flat on his ass. He never once let go of her.

"It's not your fault," he murmured in her ear, one of his hands stroking up and down her back, the other buried in her dirty hair.

Sakura sobbed in reply, her hands tightening around his shirt, even as she pressed her face into his shoulder. Her cries were starting to take on an animal quality, loud and desperate as she tried to burrow deeper into his comforting embrace.

"It's not your fault," he repeated soothingly, his face pressed against the side of her head. "You did everything you could."

"It wasn't enough," Sakura moaned, her chest heaving as she blubbered through her words. "I wasn't enough."

"He would be dead if it weren't for you," Shisui replied vehemently, and for a second, his grip was painful on her but he relaxed. "You saved his life, Sakura."

"He will never walk–he will never be a shinobi again–I–he'll hate me, Itachi will hate me, Sasuke will hate me–"

"No," Shisui interrupted, "They could never hate you. He's alive, and that's what matters."

Sakura hiccuped and Shisui pressed a kiss to her temple. He held her for a few more minutes, his eyes closed as slowly, Sakura's sobs died down into tiny sniffles. He let out a shaky breath and Sakura pulled away from him. She wiped the tears and everything else on her face, and sniffed.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "You must think I'm so weak. It's just–this is Itachi, and that hit was meant for me, and he's alive, but he might never…" she trailed off, and water welled up in her eyes again and Shisui reached out to cup her cheeks, his eyes serious.

"It's okay to cry, it doesn't make you weak. It just means you've been strong for too long," Shisui told her, his eyes never leaving hers. Sakura let out a disbelieving burst of laughter, shaking her head in disagreement as she tried to pull away. Shisui didn't let her, his grip tightening as he pulled her in closer.

"You were so strong, Sakura, you were so calm even when everything was going wrong, even when you had to perform a field operation with barely anything. You saved his life even if the mission should have gone first." His tone was passionate as he rebuked her, and Sakura's gaze dropped. She avoided his eyes, an errant tear slipping down her face again.

"You held yourself together and kept him alive while we raced back to Konoha–Sakura, listen, listen. If it were any other medic with us a while ago, Itachi would be dead by now."

Sakura reached up to hold his hand and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Thank you, Sakura," he whispered. "Thank you."

Slowly, Sakura nodded, and this time, as a fresh wave of tears came, she let them come. Shisui pressed his face against her shoulder, his arms wrapped around her. Sakura only held him in return and said nothing as her shoulder slowly became damp with his tears.

prompt was: Shisaku, "It's okay to cry, they don't mean you're weak. They mean you've been strong too long"

(for happy thoughts: itachi is actually secretly relieved bcos it means he doesn't have to fight n kill people anymore. he eventually recovers though and walks after a few months/year idk)

you're welcome to send me more prompts? check out my profile to see what pairings i'm into to. im okay with most sakura ships.