Mind games

Spar and Argue.

Those were the only two things Sasuke and Naruto ever did. Almost all the time, they did both. But, those few occasions did exist –mainly when they were on missions- where they were unable to do both, so they stuck simply with arguing.

It bothered Sakura to no end. No only did she dislike people fighting, but she didn't like the fact that it was Naruto- one of the people she hated the most- fighting with Sasuke- the boy she was in love with. She simply wanted to kill Naruto every time the two of them began to bicker. He would be the death of her and probably the death of Sasuke, too.

Kakashi, on the other hand, found it amusing. Sasuke seemed to be the only person who could turn Naruto's perpetually happy mood into a sour one. Likewise, Naruto was the only person who could ever get Sasuke to speak more than three words at a time.

It was obvious to Kakashi (Although not so obvious to Sakura and entirely untrue to Naruto and Sasuke) that the two had bonded. They were friends. Just, in a twisted way.

"Sasuke, you bastard, I could've handled that just fine!" Naruto cried, pointing an accusing finger at Sasuke.

Sasuke calmly placed his hand on Naruto's arm and pushed it away from his face, "No, you'd be dead if I didn't save your ass, moron."

A low growl escaped through Naruto's clenched teeth, "Teme!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned his back to his blonde comrade. Kakashi stood a distance off, not at all fazed by the argument. This was their routine. They didn't always argue about the same thing, but they always argued whenever possible. And nearly every single time, Naruto initiated the argument.

"Why do you always do this, you bastard?" Naruto yelled again, clenching his hands into tight fists.

Sasuke paused and glanced back over his shoulder, "Do what, dobe?"

Naruto's fists shook as he tried to keep the sheer anger out of his voice, "Why do you always risk your life for me?"

For a brief second, Sasuke's eyebrows shot up in slight surprise, but he quickly returned it to his normal, hard-ass expression, "I don't know what the hell you're talking about."

Naruto opened his mouth to protest but a harsh, cold glare from the raven caused him to shut his mouth promptly. It didn't, however cause him to stop his grumbling.

The squadron continued on their way back to the village. They were returning from a simple escort mission, but they had been ambushed on the way back. When a surprise attack was threatening to hit Naruto, Sasuke dove in front of him without a second thought.

It wasn't the first time Sasuke had taken an attack meant for the blonde dobe. It probably wouldn't be the last, either.

It killed Naruto, really. Why the hell did Sasuke always do this? Was he truly that cocky and sure of himself? Was he on the verge of thinking he was invincible? Or did he think so low of Naruto that he felt Naruto would not make it out alive without his help? Whatever the reason, it pissed Naruto off.

He could handle himself, dammit!

"Stupid bastard with his stupid superiority complex," Naruto muttered to himself.

The gates of the village came into sight and Naruto sighed in relief. He wanted to get away from that stupid bastard.

"Ja, na, Kakashi sensei. What time are we meeting tomorrow?" Naruto asked, jogging ahead of the rest of the team.

With a scratch of the back his head, Kakashi replied "Same time as always!"

Naruto nodded, ignoring the fact there wasn't exactly a solid time because Kakashi never came at the assigned time, nor at a common time, every day, and ran off to go train. He'd show Sasuke-teme that he was strong and could take care of himself!