Escape

Sakura was freaking out, and she knew it. She had just found Conner. She hadn't even realized she was ready for children until he showed up and now she could lose him. That wasn't sitting well with her. Sakura ran a hand over her face.

He looked so much like Clark. A part of her wished that his eyes had been green that way she could see something of her in him besides stubbornness. Her heart ached. She knew that she would support Conner no matter what he chose to do but she still wanted to crawl into a dark hole someplace and weep.

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura's head swiveled sharply at the voice. Before she could process who was calling, she was wrapped in Naruto's warm embrace. Sakura returned it briefly before pulling back.

"Naruto, how did you know I was here?"

"Your spangly lady friend told me. She's with the old lady right now."

It took Sakura's brain a few seconds to figure out who Naruto was talking about and when she did she burst out in a fit of uncontrollable giggles.

"Naruto, she'll kill you if she hears you call her that."

He rolled his eyes. "It's not like I said the spangles aren't nice—I also said nothing about how it's underwear."

"It's armor!"

Naruto's eyebrows shot up to his hairline in disbelief. Sakura started laughing again.

:::

"You want to tell me what's going on?" Naruto had led her out of the hospital, but they were still on the grounds. Sakura didn't think she could bear to go that far.

"My son is dying." Naruto eyed her midsection speculatively, and Sakura rolled her eyes. "I'm not pregnant."

"I know, Sakura. Sasuke told me." Sakura blinked surprised that Sasuke had said anything at all. "Sent a message via one of his evil ass snakes maybe twenty minutes ago." Sakura snorted. "I wasn't supposed to say anything, but you'd know if I were lying." She would. Lying wasn't Naruto's strong point.

"So if you know, why are you asking me?"

Naruto arched a brow. "Sasuke told me what was going on." Which meant his message was very terse. "Then he told me he had your son's girlfriend steal a bunch of information from some rich guy. Sometimes, I just don't know with Sasuke." Sakura sighed suddenly knowing how Sasuke had miraculously shown up with the information Tsunade requested. The Kunoichi ran a hand over her face and started explaining the situation to Naruto.

:::

"Can I meet him?" Sakura smiled softly.

"Sasuke's already proclaimed himself his uncle. I don't think you have much choice. Let's go meet your nephew."

Naruto grinned.

:::

When Sakura reentered Conner's room, Clark was whispering to him. He paused when he saw that she had returned. His eyes flickered to Naruto at her side and then back again. Naruto stepped forward. For a moment it looked like he was going to offer a hand to shake, but it changed into a hug so quickly that Sakura almost laughed at the horrified look on Conner's face.

"Nephew! It's good to meet you."

Conner looked at Sakura obviously angry that she hadn't mentioned having a brother. Sakura quickly clarified. "This is my teammate Naruto. My teammates can be considered family. He's also Sasuke's significant other."

"Significant other? Then why does Sasuke always look like he wants to drag you off by your hair?"

Naruto cheerfully interjected, "Because he does!"

Sakura slapped herself in the face. She really didn't want to have this discussion with her son.

Clark rose to his feet drawing attention to himself. "Sakura, can I talk to you for a moment?" Sakura saw Naruto's eyes darken and she let her eyes narrow in his direction. She saw Conner barely restraining his amusement, so she pointed a threatening finger at Naruto and said to Clark like he hadn't just witnessed the entire exchange, "Sure."

:::

Sakura isn't sure what she expects Clark to say to her. The last thing she expects to hear is, "I need to go to the Fortress."

Sakura feels her eye twitch and forces herself to calmly and rationally ask, "You need to what?"

"I want to go to the Fortress and make sure there's nothing I can do to help Conner on my end."

Sakura blinked, "You think there could be something there to help him."

Clark shrugs. "My knowledge of Kryptonian physiology is limited. I know some things, but I haven't gone in depth on the subject."

"But Lady Tsunade said—"

"I know what she said the problem is, but maybe there's another way to save him."

"And if there isn't? You could be possibly leaving Conner's side for no reason."

"With what you can do and what I can do we won't be gone long."

Sakura frowned. "What I can do?"

"I want you to come with me. You're the medical professional. You may be able to spot something faster than I can."

Sakura felt her blood pressure rising. "You want me to leave him?" She wasn't going to kill him. She wasn't going to murder her son's father in the hospital where he was possibly dying. She could wait and take it outside. In fact, she was sure that if she threw him through the wall down the hall, they would be outdoors.

"…actually I want the three of us to go together."

Sakura is stunned into speechlessness. Her rage washes away. "You can't be serious."

"If I go alone, you'll be angry, and I could possibly miss something. If I try to take you with me, you'll be mad because Conner isn't there for you to watch over. If we all go then, it will be ok." Sakura opened her mouth to argue, but Clark wouldn't let her. "Sakura, you're not going to let anything happen to him and neither will I."

Sakura could feel herself wavering.

"Please, Sakura. It's far-fetched, but it's worth a try. Don't you think?"

She did.

"Fine. Let's get Conner, climb out the window, and get out of here."

Clark frowns. "Why the window?"

"Because it is a common way that patients escape here."