This boy, like the Uchahi clan as a whole, had so many tools and options they didn't use. It kills me.

I *know*. Even assuming that Itachi thought he had no choice and thought he was being loyal, Sasuke doesn't have those limitations. Right now Sasuke can do whatever he wants. And Sasuke was always a blatantly, almost unattractively ambitious thinker. So why isn't he THINKING?

Also, word about Sakura and Naruto. I can see Sasuke assassinating the decision-makers before I can see him trying to publicly oust them, but either way he's ignoring the valuable resource that Naruto and Sakura represent. I mean-- he could even ABUSE their friendship, use them as a resource and manipulate them to get to the council members and that would STILL be a more logical and direct approach than letting Akatsuki take care of it for him.