(A/N) Like I said this is basically the second chapter/epilogue to 'Drift' and it is indeed a song fiction. This takes place a few years after 'Drift'.

The characters are Masashi Kishimoto's

The song is 'I'm Alright' By Twiztid

In the immortal words of Mills Lane from 'Celebrity Death Match';

Get it on.

---

Naruto ran. It was really all he could do, all he'd ever been able to do.

Run.

Run run run run, just keep running and don't stop, don't look back, more importantly don't look down. Because looking down would mean looking at the paper, looking at the note, looking at Sakura's last… her last thoughts, her last mark in the world, her last words to him.

If you're readin' this, then I finally did it
I'm sorry I didn't say good-bye, there was no time
Understand I was stressed
Livin' day to day was hard, and I gave it my best
But there was nothin' left, for me in this world
To convince me to stay
Now I'm long gone away

He had gone to see her; see her little one bedroom apartment that she had bought with her own money, that she had repaired and redone to her own personal liking and taste, that she had almost gotten evicted from, that she'd first kissed him in.

Sakura hadn't greeted him at the door as she sometimes did, Sakura hadn't called out to him in a sultry way from her bedroom as she sometimes did, and Sakura hadn't looked up with sleepy eyes and ink smudges from her mountain of paper work as she sometimes did. No… The apartment had been Sakura-less, he knew, he had checked every room and had found the note. Sakura's suicide note.

Don't you do that, don't you start with tears
Just remember the time we spent over the years
Never cry, never think bad of me
What's done is done, and that's the way it had to be

The second after he had read the note Naruto had exploded out of her apartment hoping, praying that she was still alive. Using Kiba's little trick by pushing chakra up to his nasal cavity he'd been able to catch her distinct scent and he'd been running ever since. Running, running away from her empty apartment, running away from being alone again, running away from what he'd been hoping, he'd been wanting, he'd been needing to be a lasting relationship, running away; but more importantly he was running towards something. Some hope, some belief, some thought that he'd be able to save her, like he'd done so many times before. He just wanted to get there in time and fix what ever it was that made her so sad.

I need you to be strong from me
Say a prayer everyday in my memory
I'm sure it's helpin' me
To earn my feathers, to get some wings
And a halo and a harp and Angelic things
And even though I'm gone, and outta sight
Never worry about me, I'm alright

As the scent of her body got stronger it was accompanied by something else. A stronger smell, an acrid smell, a deep heady smell… Blood. Her blood.


(I'm Alright)
And if you should die, don't blame yourself and keep it locked inside
(I'm Alright)
And every time you cry, don't break down, just keep me inside of ya mind

His heart started racing and his throat tightened. Naruto propelled himself at a break neck speed over the rooftops. His finger nails dug bloody crescents into his palm and his own blood soaked into her note.

(I'm Alright)
And if you should die, don't blame yourself and keep it locked inside

"Damn it…" He snarled turning his nose into the cool night wind and closing his eyes. He'd lost her scent… chakra swelled into his nose, almost angrily, as he desperately sought her. "…there…" In a blur of orange he was gone against the night sky.

(I'm Alright)
And every time you cry, don't break down, just keep me inside of ya mind

The path he was traveling grew familiar but that offered no comfort whatsoever, instead it fueled his steps and made the pit of dread in his stomach deepen. Very soon the bridge came into view along with something that made his heart stop dead in his chest.

(I'm Alright)

He had known that something was wrong with Sakura. Maybe it wasn't wrong all the time and maybe he only knew it in his subconscious, like an after thought. Maybe it was his fault for not realizing it sooner or maybe it was her fault for never telling him. Hell maybe she didn't realize that something was wrong.

But no.

She had to of known…


You only saw the outside, never knew what I was feelin'
Now everyday you lay in bed, starin' at the ceilin'
I'm alive,

but you don't see me no more
You can fill your heart with memories and things from before

Then again… maybe she didn't know. Maybe she was just as scared as he was right at that moment. Maybe she couldn't see any other way out. Maybe she was just out of options and maybe the rope had offered her some form of comfort that he could never have given her. As Naruto dropped from the roof top he found his voice. And it was horrified.

I'm not an angel but everybody got a purpose in life and when the sun rise
You will live to see another day
Just don't follow me, and live life your own way

"SAKURA!" He screamed running towards her, but as he neared both his voice and his pace died down. "…Sakura…" He whispered unable to take his eyes off of her. Tears stung at his eyes and his throat caved in. "Why would you do this…?" Naruto asked the shell of the girl he once loved. Tears soaked everything below his nose and he angrily threw a kunai that sliced cleanly through the rope.

Examples, are being set and if you forget
Get the picture with the cord around my neck
Can you handle that?
See me underground and I'm stuck, but I'm cool
It's where I wanna be
Keep the drama in hand, but outta sight
And know that,

I'mma be alright

He caught her body before she touched the ground and he surveyed the damage. Sakura's neck had rope burn marks, as did her wrists which she'd tied together behind her back. But what he really found odd was a massive slash that started on the back left section of her head, across her forehead, to her right ear. Naruto could see her skull, but that wasn't what he found so unbearably eerie about it.

Her eyes… those beautiful sea green eyes… they were half open in an expression of extreme bliss and serenity. But her mouth didn't match her eyes. She was smiling, it was a gaping smile that seemed to wide for her face and to cruel to be hers. There was something very wrong with that smile…


(I'm Alright)
And if you should die, don't blame yourself and keep it locked inside

(I'm Alright)
And every time you cry, don't break down, just keep me inside of ya mind

It had been a week. One long, hellish, and unbearably cold week. He hadn't gone to her funeral service. He had wanted to but he just couldn't bring himself to listen to some priest spew out meaningless words about Sakura. Naruto didn't trust himself to remain quiet while some man who didn't even know her prattled on about her life. No it was better that he hadn't gone, that he had stayed home and quietly prayed for her.

(I'm Alright)
And if you should die, don't blame yourself and keep it locked inside

Begrudgingly Naruto pulled himself out of his bed. It was Thursday, the day she had… yeah. He always went to the bridge on Thursday. He'd talk to her, he'd run his fingers over the dried spots of blood and he'd look up at the spot where the rope had rubbed off the paint and he'd just try. Try to understand why she did what she had done, why she couldn't of tried harder to fight what it was, why she couldn't of held on, and why… why… he wasn't able to get there in time.

He walked down the path he walked every week. He found comfort with it, maybe he hoped that one day Sakura would be standing there and she'd smile and wave at him and the nightmare would just end. It was insane, he knew it was insane. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. He knew that she would never be there, but that didn't stop him from going to the bridge every single Thursday.

(I'm Alright)
And every time you cry, don't break down, just keep me inside of ya mind

"Sakura… I can't even begin to imagine what was going on in your life." He whispered leaning on his elbows against the railing and staring up at the rub marks on the arch of the bridge. "I just wish there was more I could've done for you… I just wish you would've trusted me enough to tell me what was wrong… I just wish… that you would've held on longer…" He took in a breath to steady himself and continued whispering to her. "I'm being selfish though… I know that you did everything you could to… hold on…" Naruto paused again to wipe away some tears before they could spill over his eyelids. "I miss you Sakura… and… I just hope that wherever you are… that everything's okay and that you're alright."

(I'm Alright)