Sasuke walked home from the academy, hands clenched on his backpack straps to keep them from shaking. Something had set him off. Rengi had said to him while he was in the hospital that when a person went through something really bad or scary, certain things could make them feel like they were back in that bad situation. They were called triggers.
One of the kids almost hit him with a shuriken like Itachi did, and suddenly, Sasuke couldn't do much of anything for the rest of class. He knew he should have told someone, like Iruka-sensei or Tsubaki-sensei, but he was frozen.
His ANBU guards had long since left him so Sasuke didn't have to worry about them stopping him on his quest to visit neko-baa. He stumbled through undergrowth and jumped across small streams on his quest to get to her shop. As his goal settled in his mind, his felt his panic begin to simmer down. Thoughts of petting some of the cats danced through his head.
Finally, her shoppe came into view, surrounded by the empty buildings vacated during the second shinobi war when Suna released a poison there. He went and knocked on the door.
"Come in," A raspy voice said. The familiarity of it has Sasuke's throat tighten. He pushed the doors open and was immediately greeted with the smell of incense and tuna fish. He smiled.
"Sasuke!" Neko-baa purred with delight. Her old eyes sparkled with genuine happiness. "We're so glad you're here."
Sasuke nodded. He was glad to.
He heard a loud squealing, and then Tamaki had wrapped her arms around him in a hug. He like the fact that she had a cat nose and whiskers painted on. He missed her. His memories of his family and friends from beforehand were still clouded, but he remembered they used to play together.
'Can I get a cat?'
"Yes, business has been slow ever since six months ago. Your business will be appreciated. What kind would you like?"
'A small cat, something to easily carry around. Intelligent, and able to take care of itself when I can't.'
Neko-baa puffed whatever was in her pipe before a slow smile curled on her face that had her cat whiskers curl with pleasure.
"I have just the thing." She signaled to her daughter. Tamiki let go and bounced into the storage room, coming back with a scroll. She gestured for Sasuke to sit down, having brought out a cushion for him. She poured him a cup of tea and he gratefully took a sip.
"This, used to be your mother's."
Sasuke almost choked.
"It's a cat summon scroll that's been passed between the Neko clan and the Uchiha clan since before Konoha was founded. Sign onto this scroll, below your mothers and Tamaki's name. If they find you worthy, a summon will appear."
Sasuke signed below his mother's name with the pen Akiko gave him. He notices they did some of their letters the same.
They waited with baited breath.
Then, with a poof of smoke and a small pop, a tiny cat plopped onto the scroll in front of Sasuke.
It blinked big yellow eyes. It reminded Sasuke of flower girls shorts.
"Hi, are you my summoner?" It asked in a sweet voice. It seemed to be a young girl cat. It had a black pelt, and as far as Sasuke could see, it was the only color besides the white on the tip of her tail.
He nodded.
"Oh, Good! My name is Airi!"
She jumped into his arms and started purring. Sasuke smelled jasmine like his mothers perfume.
"Airi is very intelligent. On top of acting as emotional support, Airi is also a spy and can gather information from other cats. Useful, isn't she?"
Sasuke nodded, alight with delight.
He said his goodbye's and walked home with Airi in his arms, feeling much less lonely.
