Chouji grinned, nodding. "Of course. A friend has a dog about Naga's size. Very friendly, deadly in a fight. I've known Akamaru since he was a puppy, though, small enough to ride around on Kiba's head." Familiarity with Akamaru made Naga less intimidating than she could be to the average person.

He nodded again, knowing how lucky he was. "My teammates Ino and Shikamaru are here, along with several friends from my village and one from an allied village." One of the people from Konoha was his mentor, whose death Chouji had witnessed, but he wasn't going into that right now. He could still barely believe it himself.