Naruto

"Hello, Hoopa, I'm Fuji. We'll be like family from now on, so please take care of me," Fuji leaned forward slightly and greeted Hoopa kindly.

"Family? Family? Please advise more in the future, hee-hee!" Hoopa giggled. "I'm so happy, Hoopa has a family now!"

Feeling Fuji's friendliness, Hoopa was first stunned, but then a big smile appeared on its face. Its little gray tail shook excitedly.

"That's right, we'll be family from now on."

"Here, have some energy cubes." Fuji took out energy cubes of the Psychic and Ghost types from his counter and handed them to Hoopa.

"Thank you, Hoopa likes them very much," Hoopa said as it took a bite from the energy cube, the smile on its face growing even wider.

Unlike the powerful, unsealed Hoopa, often compared to a demon god, the confined Hoopa was more like a playful child—not just in personality but also in appearance. Especially with the mischievous smile at the corner of its mouth, Hoopa's behavior was both naughty and cute.

Fuji was naturally very satisfied with this version of Hoopa.

After leaving the ninja shop, Anko also returned to her home.

"Snivy, let's go home."

Once home, Anko opened the Pokéball and released the Snivy inside.

"Snivy, Snivy, Snivy!"

The little grass snake rubbed its eyes and yawned, as if it had just woken up. Afterward, it jumped onto Anko's shoulder and rubbed her cheek affectionately.

"Hahaha, that tickles!" Anko giggled, feeling Snivy's affection. Her heart melted at the sight. "Oh my gosh, how can there be such a cute snake in this world? It's so adorable."

Anko, who never considered herself particularly girly, felt her heart softening with Snivy's cuteness. At that moment, she wanted to share her happiness with everyone she knew.

Unfortunately, the technology in Konoha was not advanced at this time. Although they had TV and movies, there were no phones or mobile devices. To communicate with others, one had to rely on radio or special ninjutsu.

"It's getting late, and Snivy probably wants to rest too." Anko said. "I don't have any missions coming up, so tomorrow, I'll visit Kurenai and show off my Snivy. You're just too cute, Snivy!"

…

Days flew by.

The sales at Fuji's shop didn't go as smoothly as he had hoped. Most of the villagers of Konoha thought his shop was either a pet store or a ninja supply store.

In reality, only a small number of ninjas trained ninja beasts, and the villagers who wanted pets were often scared off by the high prices of Pokémon.

One villager was lucky enough to draw a Dratini, but after hearing the price, he walked away without a second glance. After all, Dratini was the baby form of a pseudo-legendary Pokémon, and even with a discount, the price was in the millions.

Fuji couldn't help but shake his head. "A Dratini! A real pseudo-legendary, and they just walked away like it was nothing…" He sighed. "The people of Konoha really have no vision."

"Hey, Brother Fuji! I'm here to buy some kunai!"

Just then, a young boy wearing a white, navy-green, and black T-shirt with the Konoha logo on his chest ran in. He had shorts on and dark green goggles around his head.

"Naruto? You're here to buy kunai?" Fuji smiled at the familiar figure.

That's right—the boy who ran in was Naruto Uzumaki.

Naruto had short blonde hair, blue eyes, and the most distinctive feature—six whisker-like marks on his cheeks. Fuji wasn't sure if it was because Naruto was born that way or if it was due to the influence of the Nine-Tailed Beast sealed within him.

At this time, Naruto hadn't yet graduated from the ninja academy, but his graduation exam was coming up soon.

"Yeah, I'm preparing for the graduation exam, so I want to update my kunai. I'm definitely going to graduate and become Hokage so that everyone will recognize me!" Naruto said with a confident grin.

"Good luck with that, Naruto! But unfortunately, I don't sell ninja tools anymore," Fuji replied with a smile.

"Huh? Brother Fuji, you don't sell ninja tools? Then what do you sell in the store now?" Naruto asked, clearly confused.

Throughout Konoha, rumors about Naruto being a "fox demon" had spread, which caused most of the villagers to treat him poorly. Fuji, however, was always kind to him.