"Sasuke! You can't do this! I won't let you go to Orochimaru!" Naruto roared, as the chakra of the nine tailed fox exploded around him, one tail waving threateningly behind his form, made of pure red malevolence.
"Why?" Sasuke asked, crossing his arms and glaring at Naruto with the Sharingan's odd pupils.
"… Because you're my best friend, duh." Naruto answered, making it the first time Sasuke had ever seen him go for deadpan instead of shouting.
"Yeah, yeah, I know that. But why do you want to stop me from going to Orochimaru for training?"
"Because you're my best friend, idiot." Naruto said, his tone far angrier this time. "Don't you get it!? He's gonna use you for his experiments!"
"Yeah, that's what I want to happen. His training and his experiments will make me stronger. Strong enough to challenge Itachi. That's kind of the only real objective I have in life." Sasuke said, shrugging. "I mean, it's not like this village will actually do anything to help me on that goal." He added.
"The hell are you saying?" Naruto asked, raising one eyebrow. "Of course you can get stronger in Konoha!"
"Naruto." Began Sasuke, his voice perfectly deadpan. "In the entirety of the academy, I had absolutely no challenge from our peers or from the curriculum. I wasn't even allowed to graduate early despite the fact that YOU were allowed to try not once but TWICE. Despite the fact that you FAILED both times and were the dead last in the class rankings." The Uchiha ranted, glaring at Naruto who seemed to be at a loss for words. "There was no point in going to the academy because there was nothing I could learn there. So I just trained on my own, like I've been doing ever since Itachi killed my entire clan. Until they finally let me graduate. By then, I was so much better than everyone else that it was ridiculous."
"Yeah, well, they might have held you back because of your eyesight. I mean, I doubt you can see much with your giant ego blocking your vision." Naruto replied, the chakra reacting to his words by calming only slightly. "Seriously, your ego is so huge I don't think it can fit in this valley."
"And you know what they did when I graduated, Naruto? They put me on a team with the class' most pathetic Kunoichi and the dead last." Sasuke said looking like he was at that stage of anger wherein shit just doesn't matter anymore and you don't care about anything. "I would have defected right then and there from how pissed I was at that team arrangement."
"Well, they put the sucky ninja with the awesome ones, it's tradition." Naruto began, looking not unlike a very smug salesman. "It just happened to be that me and Sakura-chan were the only ones awesome enough to counter your suck." He explained, grinning smugly.
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that." Sasuke said, rolling his eyes. "The point of this is, Konoha has always done its best to hold me back. When they were assigning jounin sensei, they gave me Kakashi. On paper, I couldn't have asked for someone better. I mean, he has a freaking Sharingan so he can teach me how to use mine, he's a ninjutsu expert which pretty much every Uchiha ever has the potential of becoming and he's one of the most powerful nin in Konoha." The black haired boy said. "In practice, he's a lazy jackass who couldn't be bothered to teach anything at all!"
"That's not true! Kakashi-sensei taught us things!... Well, he taught me and Sakura-chan tree-walking, but he taught you for the Chunin exams!"
"Naruto, do you want to know what he had me do for the chunin exams?" Asked Sasuke. "He taught me the Chidori. That's all." Spoke the Uchiha, looking bored. "That speed boost? I got it from training like hell because I knew I wouldn't be able to hit Gaara unless I was as fast as Lee. Seriously, all Kakashi taught me was the Chidori."
"Well, he still taught you a kickass jutsu!" Naruto defended.
"A kickass jutsu that you can see from a mile away, that only has one real application and that must be used from point blank range despite the fact that it takes forever to charge." Sasuke said, again rolling his eyes. "I'll see if I can make it ranged, otherwise, it's pretty much useless. The Sharingan can see attacks coming and that makes fighting in melee with it a total pain in the ass, Naruto."
"Well, that does sound useless, but he still tried to teach you something." It was at this point, that Naruto began to run out of arguments to defend his sensei. Understandable, since he wasn't fond of the man's abilities as teacher either.
"Still… At least Orochimaru already gave me a power boost, promised to teach me how to control it, multiple other jutsu and all those other useful things that ninja need to learn that for some reason the academy didn't teach us." Sasuke said.
"But I've heard he will do things to you!"
"What things, Naruto? Experiments? Yeah, well, I know what I'm getting into here. And I'm okay with that so long as it gives me enough power to kill Itachi." The Uchiha said, slowly, trying to get that into Naruto's thick head.
"But Konoha is your home!" Naruto tried one last ditch effort.
"Yeah, the home that strapped me to a chair and forced me to watch as it took a dump all over my sole ambition in life." Sasuke said, snorting. "So, if you've got one good reason why I should stay in Konoha, I'll go with you. If you don't… we'll see each other again once Itachi's dead."
"Okay, I got nothing. Just promise me something. Just promise me that you won't let Orochimaru steal your body or something. And that you'll come back to Konoha once this Itachi guy is dead." Naruto said, walking through the sizzling water until he was right next to Sasuke.
"Sure, why not. I mean, all you have to do is find a way for me to not be labeled a missing nin so I can come back without being arrested."
Naruto grinned. "Dude, by that time, I'll already be Hokage!"
"Oh, now it's on! I'll kill Itachi before you can become Hokage!"
"No you won't! I'll show you!"
At that time, both teenagers shared a laugh, shook hands, sealing the bet, and then went their separate ways.