Title: Points of Connection

Author: Galanthus

Translation: 7toublesome

Beta-reader for English version:

Paring: Sasuke U./Naruto U.

Genre: Romance/Fantasy

Status: finished

Permission for translation and posting: officially given by the Author (Many thanks, dear Galanthus!)

Disclaimer: Kishimoto

Warning: AU, OOC, Sasuke-neko

Autor's note: It was written for myself. The Author is not a philologist. It is recommended that the warnings and the headings be consulted before reading further.

Summary: They have saved a strange creature; beautiful, wild and dangerous. But is he intelligent? While they try to find his home, the creature steals Naruto's heart.… A prissy Baby with cat ears and fluffy tail…

Chapter 5

Next day they were dining at Naruto's parents' again. The situation with Dandelion needed to be solved and definitely be solved in a peaceful way. When the car stopped near familiar house the neko's face become perfectly emotionless, only thinned lips gave him away. Thus one could conclude that nekos were quick to take offence, were prideful to a fault and full of rancour. Naruto could not even phantom what was on the neko's mind at the moment. It was quite possible that the neko was sure he was going to be subjected to further humiliation. Anyway the situation needed to be solved and Naruto was determined to be persistent.

This time inquisitive black eyes followed the cat's every move. Quite possible there were no such sort of animals in the neko's dimension and Baby was disturbed and puzzled at the same time. But these were just mere suppositions as the neko didn't betray his interest in the least. Even his tail was motionless, and this could be the proof of the neko's perfect ability to control his emotions at his own whim.

It is a common knowledge that cat lovers can talk about their pets for hours, not paying attention on passing time, and cats are definitely are worth it. One could admire Dandelion for centuries. Red pet was at the top of his game that day and was showing his charm nicely. This time the cat got interested with the guest and started to rub at the neko's feet. It was next to impossible to ignore it and Baby's hand carefully touched its red fur. Dandelion continued to fawn to be petted and made loud purring noises. The neko probably felt the same what people felt while dealing with monkeys. No one in their right mind would consider himself related to monkeys in any way. The neko definitely thought the same way, so he relaxed and graciously decided to take the cat on his knees, petting its fur softly. The neko suddenly meowed, but Dandelion apparently did not consider him to be a cousin thus did not react to the sound. Only humans thought the sound was similar to feline noises. The single person who reacted in the most professional way was Akeno, grasping Dictaphone and recording the sound for further analisis. Communication with the cat reassured the neko and he relaxed. This time the dinner went smoothly.

Dinner finished, the family went to the zoo together with their guest. Naruto showed the neko lions, panthers, cheetahs and tigers. New kinds of animals excited the neko and picked his immediate interest. He did not expect to find such variety of felines. Naturally they could not possibly avoid primates. It was difficult to tell what animal interested the neko most, but anyway the trip to the zoo was quite informative. Later they went to a small café, where Baby tasted chocolate ice-cream and milk shake. He definitely liked both. Anyway Naruto tried his best to make Baby comfortable.

There were only two of them during supper, the atmosphere was warm, almost family like and only then Naruto noticed the difference in the neko's behavior. At the moment Baby was perfectly relaxed and natural. With the other people present he acted in a different manner. Outside their house the neko assumed an independent air, his appearance was arrogant and unapproachable. He did not let anybody think that he could be touched, his entire appearance clearly told to stay the hell away. Of course, Baby was less arrogant with Naruto's parents, but still allowed no liberties, clearly indicating that he would not tolerate any violation of his personal space. Only Naruto was allowed to come close, to touch and to service him. Think what you may, but it seemed Baby had chosen him and allowed him close contact. It was possible the neko had a special servant to fulfill such duties in his own world, anyway Naruto had such impression. Naruto took no offence in being Baby's servant as he thought humans already managed to cause much harm to the neko and were guilty, and he just tried to make up for the wrongs.

The weather suddenly turned to worse. It unexpectedly grew cold to fifteen degrees and exhausting rain started to pour. Baby began feeling miserable. All his appearance screamed forelorn and lost. The neko was cold all the time and cold was getting to him so badly that he himself decided to wear pants and warm t-shirt. Naruto offered him knitted sweater and socks, Baby did not abject but put the clothes on with condemned to misery manner. The neko also lost his appetite. Only warm milk soothed him somehow. Naruto was at a loss, he did not know what to do with his guest. He was starting to consider to call the medical aid for the neko. The fire at the fireplace seemed to cheer the neko a bit and Baby placed himself before it at the floor, cocooned in a warm blanket. He looked like small shivering bundle, lonely and miserable. While looking at him, Naruto felt a dull aching pain in the middle of his chest and burning desire to hold, to warm and to comfort. Without a second thought, Naruto pushed the sofa closer to the fireplace, hugged the neko and laid him near, covering them both with the blanket. Baby appreciated the idea and sitting up a bit, placed his head on Naruto's chest. Naruto run his fingers over black silk tresses, softly massaged the skin under and, absently looking at the fire, started to tell Baby everything that freely came to his mind. Naruto spent the rest the evening enjoying such closeness.

They expected nobody to supper, so the door bell made Naruto puzzeled. A fragile girl, totally soaked with rain, stood at the doorway.

- "Shion…"

The girl let out a sob, throw her arms round Naruto's neck and cling to him with all her body.

- "I'm sorry, Naruto. I can't live without you."

Naruto, shivering with cold and dampness, let Shion in and shut the door.

- "There, there, it's all right", – he said soothingly, petting the girl's head in consolation.

When they turned, Naruto saw Baby at the far end of the corridor, who was closely observing the sceen unfolding before his eyes. Both humans got the clear impression that the neko was upset. While seeing the unknown creature, Shion got frozen and even stopped crying. Taking advantage of her puzzled state, Naruto carefully freed himself from her arms and presented Baby to Shion in formal manner.

- "Shion, meet the Neko please. I call him Baby and take care of him while we are searching for his home dimension".

- "Baby, this is Shion, she is my friend".

The girl appeared to be clever and was able to appraise the situation quickly and correctly.

- "I've come in a wrong time".

Actually she was right, her timing sucked. But it was rude to throw wet and shivering girl out, especially the girl who was considered to be his bride just four months ago…

- "No, of course not. Please come in, have supper with us. And you can stay for the night. I will prepare a bed for you in guest room".

Before Shion's unexpected appearance, the neko relaxed to some extend, took a small nap, snoring gently, but now seeing a total stranger, Baby got to behave like he did at his first meeting with the pet. The lips were thinned with disdain, the back was unnaturally straight, the tail was perfectly still. Haughtiness and arrogance screamed about him. But Naruto had already got a clue about Baby's reactions and understood that these were the means to show Baby's resentment and displeasure. Naruto could not understand though why Shion's appearance had angered the neko so much.

The awkward silence reigned in the living room, the conversation was dying and it was impolite for Naruto to leave under the pretext of preparing supper. At last, he could not bear the atmosphere any longer and stood, making a resolute suggestion:

- "It's time to have supper. Let's go to kitchen".

His audience stood, but the neko didn't go to the kitchen. Shion felt guilty and was about to apologize and leave immediately, but Naruto stopped her.

- "Please forgive him. He is not himself today. He has a fit of spleen. I guess it is because of the weather. And Shion… please stay", - without waiting for the answer he continued, -"I need to see where he went. Would You wait for me in the kitchen? If you cook the meal, I'll say thanks".

It turned out Baby was in the bathroom. Naruto wanted to help in washing as always, but unexpectedly the door was locked from inside. Naruto stood before the closed door and could not believe that the neko did it. Human could not decide what to do about it and being at a loss with the situation, decided to leave Baby at his own devises and while the neko was busy bathing, to have supper with the girl. Some how Naruto was dead sure that Baby would skip the meal.

Shion was not inclined to cook sophisticated meal so she prepared sandwiches and some tea.

Nobody had an appetite and the girl apologized:

- "I am sorry to disturb You both. Please, forgive me".

Naruto negatively shook his head.

- "Don't be. It is not Your fault"? – he said and in order to lessen the strain between them asked, - How have You been?

It was clear to her the question was asked from mere politeness and suddenly downed on Shion that Naruto broke up with her for good.

- "I'll always regred what I have done", - she said honestly.

Naruto signed and squeezed her hand.

- "I have forgiven You long time ago. But to start it all anew… I'm sorry", - he added after a pause.

It was a straight rejection. The past could not be set right or changed. This time Shion could not cry. She just asked to show her the guest room.

Peeping into bathroom Naruto found nobody there. Bed-room was also empty. The only room left to check was the room in which he had planned Baby to lodge in the beginning. The neko was on the bed, covered with blanket and pretended to be sleeping. He was so good at it that human would have been definitely deceived if he had never seen Baby asleep. At the moment Baby acted like a real foolish baby.

It was an uncontrollable desire to pat the neko's head and to call him silly little thing and Naruto did exactly that. The neko didn't even open his eyes, just twitched his ear unwillingly. Naruto persistently pulled the blanket off him and only then Baby reacted, angrily hissing and bolting into sitting position. Naruto learnt to ignore such actions long time ago, right at the beginning of their living together, and with absolutely undisturbed manner handed glass of warm milk to the neko.

- "Take a drink and stop sulking. Shion didn't do you any harm as well as I didn't. Your pride will took the better of you and will ruin you at the end".

The tail constantly twitching, Baby showed his displeasure but drank all the milk. Taking from him the now empty glass, Naruto placed it on the bed-side table and said:

- "I'll clean it tomorrow".

Naruto took Baby into his arms and carried him to bedroom. This time the neko didn't resist but put his head on human's shoulder and slowly sighed.

Placing the neko on the bed Naruto said:

- "You bathed without me so sit here and wait until I'm done".

He returned from the shower after five minutes. Baby was already under the blanket, his robe was hanging from the chair as the neko had fallen into the habit. It was extremely pleasant to hold clinging warm body and it was also sad. Naruto was influenced by the rain as well as Baby was. They both felt miserable.

- "We were engaged with Shion", - the human started to tell taking his time. At the moment he desperately wanted to share his past with Baby. – We have known each other from school. Shion was my first and only love. It seemed to me then that our love was forever. Together with her we made plans for the future, I trusted her in everything, but she, as it turned out, had a little trust in me. Shion is a famous ballet dancer, and all that time she was uncertain what to choose: life with me or the ballet. I had not asked her about it, I even had no idea about her uncertainty and fears. She preferred to keep mum and pretend that everything was perfect. Maybe she was afraid that I will leave her, but it was not the case from my part. I always respected her choices. She probably was not brave enough to be frank with me. I always wanted to have children, three as a minimum. It is funny and seems absurd but at that time I even thought about to pick up their names. She pretended to support me in this, but in reality she was not at all so fond of the idea, she did not need any children, because she thought them to disturb with her career as a dancer. She got pregnant accidentally, we did not plan it. We used the necessary protection, but You know, neither way of protection gives one hundred percent of guarantee. She had hidden that from me and made abortion secretly. I was kept in the dark and would have not discovered anything if she not landed up in hospital soon after that. She was so in a hurry to get back to the stage, that she neglected her health. I was deeply offended when I discovered the reason, but most of all I was upset by her lying to me. Think of it, Baby, it is very painful when Your lover whom You believe unconditionally and whom You deeply love, lies to You. I was enough for her to simply tell me. I would have not insisted for her to keep the baby. Of course I would have tried to convince her to change her mind, but definitely not tried to make her. I strongly believe that it is up to woman to decide whether to give birth or not. We would have waited for the time when she would be ready for this. We would have waited for her to keep up with her career, if only she trusted me with her secret…

Sometimes it is so comforting to speak like that without any need for an answer. It makes one so relaxed, it takes away one's pain together with the words. Baby listened attentively, intently looking into his eyes and it was absolutely unimportant that he probably did not understand a single word.

Early in the morning Shion decided to leave and rejected Naruto's persuasion to stay for breakfast. He lead her to the driveway to taxi. After a hug and kiss to the cheek he asked:

- "Take care of yourself".

- "You too", – Shion answered, while getting into the taxi. Then she glanced at the neko standing by the doorway.

- "You know, I think he is just being jealous", - She said and closed the car's door.

- End of chap 5-TBC-