Forgive Me, Naruto

My Loser

Sasuke's POV:

***3 weeks later***

Me, Naruto, and the rest of the Konoha 12 all stand in the Hokage's office in front of Kakashi's desk.

I had just been officially released from the hospital 2 days ago, and Kakashi was already putting us back to work. He looks at me remorsefully.

"Sorry Sasuke, I wish I could let you rest a little more. Hopefully you had enough rest in the hospital though," he says, side-eyeing Naruto.

Naruto grumpily crosses his arms. I hold back a chuckle.

He had been visiting so frequently that the nurses had to ban him from my room so that I could rest peacefully.

"It's fine, Kakashi -- uh, Lord Sixth. What did you summon us for?" I ask, although I already know the reason.

"Well, according to your intel from your last mission, it appears there are still Otsutsukis roaming the Earth, correct?" He states.

I nod.

"Well I haven't received any reports regarding them yet, but it's better we track them down before they cause trouble," he says.

He points to Hinata, Kiba, and Shino.

"Since you three specialize in tracking, I want you to visit that abandoned village again and look for any more clues behind the Otsutsuki clan and their whereabouts."

He points to Shikamaru, Sai, Ino, and Tenten.

"You four will each go to one of the Great Nations and alert them about what to expect."

Finally, he points to Naruto, Sakura, Lee, and Choji.

"You guys will stay here and protect the village in case of any attacks."

All of the Konoha 12 nods, except for Naruto.

"Wait! What about Sasuke?" He asks, realizing Kakashi never called my name.

"Sasuke and I agreed before this meeting that he will be journeying around the world to search for the Otsutsuki members. His Rinnegan allows him to travel more extensively, even through different dimensions. He's the only one who might be able to find them," Kakashi says.

Naruto frowns and looks at the ground in disappointment.

I don't blame him. Because he was banned from my hospital room, we never really had much time together since we got back from the mission.

I turn to him and smile.

"Naruto...do you want to come with me?" I ask, trying to hide my flustered face.

Caught off guard, Naruto widens his eyes for a moment before smiling widely.

"Yeah! I mean, uh...sure, if you want," he says, also flustered.

Ino rolls her eyes. "Here they go again with that sexual tension. Kiss already!"

Sai smiles mischievously. "Oh, they already have!"

Before anyone can react, Sakura quickly punches his head.

Losing his patience, Kakashi loudly clears his throat, gaining our attention again.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. But you need to stay here in the village. Like it or not, you are still Konoha's jinchuriki, and you still have your Hokage training," Kakashi says, crossing his arms.

I see Naruto shudder, probably thinking about the amount of studying he needs to do before being promoted to Jonin.

Naruto frowns again, while the rest of the group looks at him sympathetically.