"BROTHER!" I heard as suddenly Naruto came flying at me from my left after I had gave the book to Whiscash Elder.
He collided into me and caused me to skid across the ground. Wincing a bit as I closed my eyes, I looked up to see Naruto panting and wagging his tail at me. He wasn't exactly pinning me down, but he did have his front paws on my chest. He was smiling optimistically at me as I looked at him with a smile.
"We made it!" he cheered, "We're in the last stage!"
"I know, bro," I said chuckling, "but no need to kill me over it."
"Sorry, Thomas," he chuckled as he nuzzled me with a smirk, "Just so happy and proud of you, me, and Sasuke. We're gonna ace this test, and you're doing awesome!"
As I closed my eyes and relaxed to him nuzzling my face, I sighed and replied, "Naruto, I haven't really done anything in this whole exam thing..."
"But you found that human device in the hunt and helped brainstorm on the test! That's helping!" he said smiling, wagging his tail as he helped me up to my feet.
"Yeah, but it wasn't really that big of a role I played," I said, rubbing my head.
"You did your part, and that's final!" Naruto pouted as he looked at me with a stern, no-nonsense look, which was rare for the Poochyena to do.
"...Heh, Naruto, you can't let me feel bad, no matter what I say," I chuckled as I rubbed the top of his head.
His face immediately became an innocent and happy puppy face as the tip of his tongue stuck out of his lips. He closed his eyes and sat down, wagging his tail still as I smiled. Naruto was very loyal to me. Maybe because I was technically his trainer in the real world, or maybe because that's how dog Pokémon are. All I know is that I loved how he would always be by my side, no matter what kind of trouble I would get into in the future.
"Thomas, can you scratch behind my ears?" he asked softly as his left hind leg started to react to my rubbing and scratch his ribs.
"Hehe, sure," I said happily as I began to do just that.
He slowly moaned and grunted as he sat closer to me and leaned into my body. His smile grew horizontally as I watched his hind leg then start to tap the ground repeatedly. He moaned again as his muzzle was buried into my fur.
"Ohhh... Thomas... you know how to make me feel good," he said blissfully.
I smirked as I sneaked my left hand under his chin and began to scratch it. Naruto moaned louder as he slowly raised his front arms in the air, like he was in a trance. He leaned his back into me as his eyes stayed closed in a dreamily state. I smiled at my Poochyena as he slowly licked my face once close to it.
"Mmmmmm... Thommaaasss..." he barely said as he relaxed.
I smiled and kissed his face. He wagged his tail and licked me gently as I rubbed his neck and kept scratching his chin. I suddenly felt a paw rub my shoulder as I turned to see Sasuke smiling right next to me.
"I see that you two are once again having a loving moment together," he said chuckling.
"Ohhhh... right there... on the tip of my chin..." Naruto happily moaned as he panted.
"No, I think that's quite enough, Naruto," Sasuke said, signaling me to stop, "We need you at your best, not when you're 'snuggle-high'. You can snuggle as much as you want later, but now, you need to focus and be ready for anything."
I stopped immediately and watched Naruto slowly snap out of his snuggle trance. But that didn't mean he didn't stop snuggling into me. He sat by my right side and leaned his head into me, smiling cheerfully. I smirked as Sasuke sighed and smiled, folding his arms at his brother.
"Oh, I can't wait that long," the Poochyena said as he gently nuzzled me a bit, "I gotta cuddle my little bro a little bit."
"Well, then, get a bit of cuddling out now. The last stage requires the bag from the crystal hunt, and the others will be back with it any minute, and I doubt you want an awkward moment with the others," the oldest brother chuckled.
"Oh, right!" Naruto said,quickly stopping just as the others came into view.
Batsu waved to Sasuke and stated, "Sasuke, we aquired the bag. It's now only a matter of time just to wait for the last proctor to give the instructions."
"But man, this thing is heavier than before," Zev said, grunting as he adjusted his grip on the strap of the bag.
"Are you sure? It's not like we had anything heavy in the bag when we gave it back," Naruto said, tilting his head.
Suddenly, a huge sigh came from Sasuke as we all turned to look at him. He had his arms folded and an unimpressed emotionless look came across his face as we looked amongst each other.
"King... look at the bag," he said.
As the Charmeleon looked at the bag we were given that Zev was holding, he suddenly lowered his head with a sigh. For sticking out of the bag was a reddish-orange tail with a flame on it. I slowly smiled a bit, for I knew who it belonged to. Zev set the back down as King opened it up, reached in, and pulled out Pyro, who was smiling innocently at him. He held him as his little brother kept looking at him.
"Sigh... Pyro," King said as he looked at him.
"Yeeeeeeeees?" Pyro said cutely as he smiled at him.
"What are you doing in the bag?" his older brother asked.
"I'm gonna go with you and your super cool team!" the Charmander cheered as he raised his hands in the air celebrating.
"Oh, no, you're not!" King replied back instantly, "You are to stay in the square until we get back."
A look of utter horror came on Pyro's little face as he gasped and asked with widened eyes, "Wh-Why not?"
"It's because we have to complete the exams. Bringing you on board during the mission wouldn't be proper or acceptable, cause you're not part of the team," Sasuke explained.
"Ohhhh, okay," Pyro nodded super-quickly as he looked at us, "But... King, who are these guys? I really don't know them that well..."
It was then the next few minutes, King introduced us one by on, even nicely saying my name when it was my turn and telling a bit about me. But something really special happened when the last by not least introduction of Naruto happened. As we got to him, Pyro's eyes widened with shock and went dead silent as he kept staring at my brother.
"... He... I can't... believe it..." he said softly.
"H-huh? Did I do something wrong?" Naruto tilted his head and said.
"What's the matter, bro?" King asked as he looked at him.
"It's just... this Poochyena... IS SO CUTE!" Pyro yelled as he ran to Naruto and hugged him tightly.
My brother immediately blushed with a bit of a smile as he wagged his tail. Pyro kept rubbing his head into his fur and hugging onto him tightly as King sighed again in fatigue. It caused everyone but Batsu (of course) to laugh at him as Pyro giggled.
"He's so soft and cuddly! I could hug him forever!" he squealed happily as he rubbed his chest.
Well, this caused Naruto to start panting happily with his tongue out, to which the little kid gasped in excitement and squealed again, "He likes me, brother! That settles it! Naruto is my new bestest friend for life!"
"Well, glad you like him, bro," King said, rubbing the back of his neck, "Not a personal fan of him, but whatever floats your boat, I guess..."
But with that said, Pyro slowly turned to look at King with the most evilist grin I've seen so far. It sort of made me flinch a bit and made the question go through the team's head: What was he up to and what was he about to pull...?
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