Naruto gave a small grunt as he shifted the straps of his backpack. The pack gave off a small sound which, fortunately, neither of his teammates heard. A smile appeared on his face as he fished out a strip of meat from his pocket and put it in the pack, getting a happy mewl from within.

"It's surprisingly cute for a supposed creature of mass destruction." Kakashi noted with a chuckle. "Is that all you have to tell me?"

"At the moment. Come on, I don't even know all that much." The fifteen-year-old Gennin muttered at his Sensei's look. "And most of what I don't know and some of what I do is still reserved only for the Order. Not even the Hokage can know." Kakashi nodded in agreement.

"How much do you want to tell him?"

"Nothing, at least for another month or two, and even then only if I have to."

"Why? I thought you told me the Order was pretty famous back then."

"It was. But I'm the only one now, and my dragon's still so small. I won't allow anything to harm it." Naruto shot his Sensei a hard look.

"Then why are you telling me?"

"Two reasons. First off, you already saw the dragon. And I do trust you."

"And what about that?" Kakashi motioned to the sword Naruto was carrying in his left hand.

"Still thinking. There must be some books left somewhere out there. I'll need to look into it when we get to Konoha. Anything else?" Kakashi shook his head and the rest of the trip to their home village was spent in silence.

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It took the team five days to get to Konoha with a moderate pace, since their Sensei wasn't in any hurry. Naruto was glad for the pace, but his dragon was growing rapidly. It was almost too big to fit in his pack, and already twice as large as when they had left Nami. He was just thankful, for the first time, that Sasuke and Sakura were too absorbed in the former to notice.

But it was on the fifth day, just a couple of miles from the gates of the village, that Naruto froze mid-step.

"Who am I?" The words echoed in his mind. The ancient presence that signified his dragon was there full force. Naruto nervously shifted his pack. The dragon inside was quiet.

"Was that you?" he muttered lowly.

"Yes." Came the amused reply in his mind. "Who am I?"

A name. The dragon wanted a name, Naruto realized. He closed his eyes in though, trying to recall the dragon names the book held.

"Firnen." No longer startled by his dragon's sudden ability to speak the human language, Naruto sent his words through their link, just as he did constantly through the five days they had travelled.

"No." Amusement was sent back through the link.

"Very well then, Glaedr." The next name was also rejected, and those after it. "Eridor."

"No. Naruto." The amusement was no longer there.

"That's my name, you can't… Oh." Naruto slapped his forehead with his palm. The dragon was female. "I'm sorry." The next few minutes were spent in listing a couple of female names Naruto could remember. By now, all three of his teammates had noticed he stopped, but could only see him with a far-away look in his eyes, his right hands clutching the strap of his backpack and his lips moving soundlessly.

"Vervada." Finally, after at least a dozen names, he could feel content seeping through the link.

"Yes, I am Vervada, daughter of Saphira. It's a pleasure to meet you, my Rider." Naruto gave a small chuckle and looked ahead, seeing a mop of pink hair and a fist drawn back, getting ready to punch him. He could hear his dragon's quiet growl from behind him and, sharing her sentiments, caught the fist in his hand and squeezed, bringing Sakura to her knees in pain.

"What?" He growled at her.

"We're almost there." Kakashi called ahead of him, eyes glued to the book in his hands. "Please let go of your teammate Naruto." The blond grunted but let go, glaring at the pinkette who now had a slightly scared look in her eyes.

"Do that again and you'll lose that hand." Naruto walked ahead, followed by the occupied Sensei, scared Sakura and uncaring Sasuke.