At Wit's End
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I'm just borrowing for my personal amusement.
Prologue
He was tired, so very tired. He tried his best to show the villagers that he was not the Kyuubi but apparently his best wasn't good enough. How many times have he saved their sorry asses without them knowing? How many times have they almost crossed the line? Didn't they know that they were this close to being deep fried most of the times?
Of course they don't. He wasn't a show-off like everybody says he was. He never throws a tantrum when others takes credit for what he's done. He always keeps tolerating and smiling like he didn't care what they thought about him. Years of training taught him to keep his temper in check outside of his act. He took them all in like oxygen and let them all go like water. But this. This was pushing it too far.
Instead of a simple "thank you", he got hatred and accusations when he brought their precious Sasuke back. That wasn't the worst of it. Sakura had ignored him in favour of Sasuke. The least she could do was thank him for keeping his promise. But no, she didn't give him even nonsense. He was ignored like an annoying fly. That just pisses him off.
Then the villagers accused Tsunade of favouring the blonde and punishing Sasuke for abandoning the village. There was a strike until she stepped down. They didn't care that they no longer had an active Hokage; they just wanted her out. She had left the village after that. All his friends - including the Hyuugas - were prejudiced against for befriending the Kyuubi vessel. Now that didn't just piss him off; it angered him more than anything would have in the world. If it was one thing he valued, it was friendship.
All these were pissing him off badly, yes, but it wasn't enough to drive him to abandon his dream and join the Akatsuki.
Their ignorance was.
After Sasuke's little escapade was over, they wanted him out because "he was a bad influence to their Sasuke-kun". They tried to get him to quit being a ninja and had almost persuaded the council to take him off the genin list had it not been for some reasonable guys in the council. They attempted to injure him permanantly. They threw things at him. All these didn't matter. What mattered was that there were attempts on his life and the council never did anything about them.
Why did he protect them? Why is he willing to risk his life for people who didn't deserve it? He couldn't find an answer. So when Itachi showed up in the middle of the night and offered him the opportunity to leave the village in return for his service to the Akatsuki, he agreed almost immediately.
The final judgement have been made.
They wasted their chance and they'll pay for it.
They'll definitely pay for it. Naruto will make sure of that.