"I wouldn't expect you to," Sasuke retorted, traces of a grin still on his face before he turned toward the training fields, standard-issue sword slung comfortably over his shoulders. "That's why I wanted you to be the one to recommend me."

That, and -- if he couldn't meet Itachi's standards to rank as jounin, what right did he have to eventually serve as his brother's protector and backup? Sasuke had never had any other path before him but to support Itachi; it stood to perfect reason that Itachi had to be the one to decide whether he was worthy or not.