"You're such a idiot!" He roared, rising above the shorter boy.

"Oh, I'm an idiot?! What about you? We couldn't just let them get away!" Kai countered, not willing to back down.

He didn't care how much taller or stronger his friend was than him. Cole could do nothing to scare him. Besides, Kai could never back down from a fight. He had to defend his pride.

"We were way outnumbered! It was completely stupid to jump right in without a plan!" Cole's dark eyes flashed with anger. He was the leader, and he was going to make his point.

"There was no time to make a plan, Cole! And now because I was the only one that could keep my head and run after them, they got away! If you all would've helped me..." Kai was sharply cut off by Cole.

"It wasn't the time to attack, Kai. When are you going to learn that not every fight can be won? Even if you were not in the position to fight, the rest of us were not." Cole was attempting to turn his angry words into a calmer tone. He thought it worked some on rubbing off on his fiery friend, when Kai responded with a milder voice.

"Well, I guess that means I'm a better ninja than the rest of you." Kai spun on his heel and walked away before the ninja of earth, Cole, could say another word. Well, that backfired.

"Kai!" Cole shouted after the fire ninja had left the bedroom. "Don't you walk away from me!" He followed after Kai, his footsteps loud and heavy.

Kai was walking down the hallway towards the living room, obviously fuming. His footsteps were quickly paced. Cole yanked on the back of Kai's red ninja gi and slammed him against the wall. At first, Kai's brown eyes showed surprise, but he quickly covered it. He made sure to look unfazed.

"Listen to me, Kai," Cole said between his teeth. "I'm sick of your snarky attitude and the way you've acting to this whole team. But, it's even worse when you know I'm the leader, yet you still disrespect my word. Why can't you just listen to me for once?" He noticed Kai's grimace of pain and loosened his grip on him a bit. He hadn't realized he had been pressing so hard.

"Because," Kai was saying. "I don't always believe your word is the way to go. We could've easily taken down those guys today, one less problem for tomorrow. Why wouldn't you want that?"

"I would want that, Kai," Cole said. "But I also want my team to be safe, more than anything else. You almost got yourself killed today." His tone softened at this part, and he let go of his friend.

His best friend. Kai looked down at his feet, brown hair sweeping across his forehead. Cole could never stay mad for long, and even though Kai liked to pretend I could, the ninja of earth knew him better.

Kai's anger was always quick, witty, and hot, but it didn't last long. Especially with Cole. After all, who could stay mad at a best friend? A best friend (and a leader) that had saved your skin countless times and still had the strength to forgive you. No one could stay mad at someone who did that.

"Sorry," Kai muttered, pushing a rough hand through his hair. He only did that when he was regretting a poor decision, giving in, or troubled about something else. So, Cole knew the master of fire was being sincere.

"Hey." Cole put a gentler, but firm and on his friend's shoulder. "I forgive you, okay?" Kai glanced up at him with apologetic brown eyes, and Cole continued. "But you gotta learn to listen to me sometime, man. I'm sorry if you don't always agree with my instructions, but I have to keep this team together. It might not always make sense what I'm saying at a certain moment, but I guarantee you'll understand later. Just trust me." He waited for an answer, and when one didn't come, he said, "Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah," Kai replied with his usual casual tone. Cole wasn't sure if he should take it as disrespectful, or if Kai was teasing.

"Hey, I..."

"Chill out, Cole," Kai said. He had that familiar smirk plastered on his face. "I'm messing with you."

"Chill out?" Cole raised his eyebrows. It was his turn to tease. "Never thought I'd hear you say that, master of fire." He grinned, and Kai rolled his eyes.

Cole reached out to ruffle Kai's already ruffled hair, and together they walked down the hallway.