My shortest one yet; I hope you guys still like it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
She watches, stares, into the smooth stone pool, clear and still.
It reflects a pale gray sky, the sky of autumn, and swirling clouds and flittering black crows; their cries echo harsh and mocking in the silence of the empty courtyard.
She kneels, quiet and still, staring into the clear cold water. In a way, she is attempting to scry, to see the future as a seer would in a dusty mirror.
She sees her face, but it is different. It is older, more beautiful. She is strong now, strong and brave. The girl she sees is capable and intelligent, beautiful and valiant. This girl can handle anything. She's a fantasy, a dream; she can't be real.
But for a moment, she allows herself to think that this girl is real. She lets herself think that this girl will be her someday, that she will be better than she is now, that she will be someone who can defend her comrades.
She lets herself think that she will be more than what she is. It's a beautiful dream, one she doesn't want to give up.
"Sakura." Then a cold voice calls, a voice belonging to no one, and she watches numbly, her veins filled with lead, as her reflection shatters and becomes a little girl again.
It is fall, the world is fading, and she longs to be that girl instead of what she is now.