Gravely Injured and Hospitalized! Zuo Hao Gives Up Hope!

The ANBU captain took in the scene. His gaze paused for an instant on the blood at Zuo Hao's mouth and the way he knelt on one knee, then moved on as though he had seen nothing.

His voice was steady and devoid of emotion. "Sahiro Uchiha, I'm taking you to Konoha Hospital right now."

Sasuke did not move.

He still stood in front of Zuo Hao, barefoot on the flagstones, the wind lifting a corner of his thin shirt.

His Two Tomoe Sharingan was active, and the markings of the Cursed Seal still rippled faintly across his neck. He looked like a beast provoked into a rage and forcing itself to hold back.

"Take my brother to Konoha Hospital?" Sasuke's voice grew colder. "Why should I trust you?"

The three ANBU did not answer.

Zuo Hao remained on the ground. The pain of poisonous insects crawling through his meridians felt like countless fine needles grinding against his organs.

Eyes lowered and breathing heavily, he slowly raised a hand through the silence and set it on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Sasuke." His voice was hoarse but strangely steady. "Go find Kakashi-sensei."

Sasuke whipped around, anger flashing in his eyes. "Brother! How can I leave you like this?"

"I said go find Kakashi." Zuo Hao tightened his grip. "Tell him what happened to me. He'll know what to do. Staying here will only get in my way."

Sasuke opened his mouth to argue, but Zuo Hao's deathly pale face and the cold sweat beading on his brow stopped him. He could not force out a single word.

He clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white and his nails dug deep into his palms.

His gaze swept over the three ANBU twice, as if he were carving the outline of each mask into his memory. Then he stepped back half a pace, his voice grinding out between his teeth.

"If anything happens to my brother, I'll make every last one of you pay with your lives."

Zuo Hao watched his younger brother disappear around the end of the alley. He closed his eyes for a moment, then braced himself against the wall and slowly stood.

The insects devouring the chakra inside him felt like countless tiny centipedes tunneling through his flesh.

If Zuo Hao had not possessed the powerful constitution of both the Uchiha Clan and the Uzumaki Clan, he might already have been dead.

"Let's go," he said.

The ANBU captain said nothing more. He stepped forward and took Zuo Hao by the arm.

Zuo Hao neither refused nor pulled away. He let the ANBU support him as they made their way to Konoha Hospital, one step at a time.

Zuo Hao was rushed into the hospital.

Sasuke found Kakashi at once and told him the news.

"What?" Kakashi's brow furrowed, undisguised shock in his voice. "Zuo Hao was ambushed? He's in the hospital? What happened?"

Sasuke's face was pale, his voice low and rough. "My brother said it was Torune Aburame's poison. He told me to tell you."

Kakashi's expression darkened, his frown deepening. "Torune Aburame... His poison is going to be difficult to deal with."

Sasuke clenched his fists until his knuckles whitened, his voice tight with anger and frustration.

"But why attack my brother? Why? Haven't we been through enough? The Uchiha Clan has already been wiped out. Why won't they leave us alone?"

Kakashi fell silent for a moment. His visible eye shifted away from Sasuke toward the far end of the hospital corridor, and he lowered his voice.

"Sasuke, calm down first. What Zuo Hao needs now is rest and treatment, not your anger."

Sasuke did not unclench his fists. His knuckles were white, and his body trembled with the effort of holding himself back. "Kakashi-sensei, I'm not throwing a tantrum. I really don't understand... Those people wanted my brother dead. If I hadn't woken up tonight, if I'd been a step slower, my brother would already be..."

He could not go on.

Kakashi patted his shoulder. The touch was light but steadying. "I know. I know all of that. But what could you do if you chased after them now?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth and said nothing.

"Go home and rest," Kakashi said. "I'll stay here and keep an eye on things. I'll find a way to get to the bottom of what happened to Zuo Hao."

Sasuke was silent for a long time. At last, he slowly unclenched his fists.

He looked up at Kakashi, the last traces of fury still lingering in his dark eyes. "Kakashi-sensei... I'm counting on you."

Kakashi nodded and watched Sasuke turn away and vanish into the night.

The corridor lights were pale and cold. The smell of disinfectant hung in the air.

Kakashi stood there for a moment, then headed for Zuo Hao's room.

When he pushed open the door, this was what he saw.

Zuo Hao lay on the hospital bed, covered in tubes and wires: an IV line, monitoring leads, and several thin needles set into his chest and the side of his neck. They were Sealing Needles the Medical Team had placed to keep the insects from spreading.

His eyes were closed, his face ashen, his lips cracked. He had grown so gaunt that it looked as though something had drained away most of his life.

If not for the barely perceptible rise and fall of his chest, he could have been mistaken for a corpse.

Kakashi stood in the doorway for a few seconds. Then he gently shut the door and sat in the chair beside the bed.

"Zuo Hao," he said quietly.

The figure on the bed did not respond.

About ten seconds passed before Zuo Hao's eyelashes trembled and he slowly opened his eyes.

"Kakashi-sensei..." His voice was so hoarse it was barely audible. "Did Sasuke... go home?"

"He did," Kakashi said. "He wanted to stay outside the hospital, but I talked him into leaving."

Zuo Hao let out a faint breath of relief. He closed his eyes, then opened them again. "Good... The way he is, staying here would only make him more worked up."

Kakashi did not respond.

He looked at the tubes and wires attached to Zuo Hao, waited a few seconds, then asked, "How do you feel?"

Zuo Hao's mouth twitched as though he were smiling, but the expression was more painful than a grimace. "I can't move... any part of my body. I can't even lift a finger. Torune Aburame from Root... His insects' poison is stronger than I thought. I can move my eyelids, but nothing else."

Kakashi frowned. "What did the Medical Team say?"

"What did they say?" Zuo Hao gave a faint snort, bitterness creeping into his voice. "They said I'll be dead in a month."

Kakashi fell silent.

Zuo Hao had spent so long preparing for these exams. He still had not completed the mission involving the Caged Bird Seal, or the Konoha Crush Plan mission.

Now, one ambush had brought it all to an end.

Silence settled over the hospital room for a long time.

At last, Zuo Hao spoke first, his voice low and hoarse, heavy with a weariness he could not put into words. "Kakashi-sensei... Do you know what hurts me most?"

"Torune Aburame dared to use the Transformation Technique right here in Konoha, wear Ino's face, and attack me. To make sure I couldn't compete, he even used this many Advanced Poisonous Insects."

"He would never have dared do that without Danzo's orders."

Kakashi said nothing.

The answer was obvious.

Zuo Hao slowly closed his eyes.

"I used to think... the Third Hokage was just weak, afraid of causing trouble. But now I understand. It wasn't weakness. He allowed it."

"He did nothing."

"Because he didn't want to see my Sharingan shine at the Chunin Ninja Exams, either. He wanted even less to see me stand in that arena, where everyone could see me, bearing the Uchiha name."

"Because they're afraid. Afraid that someone as unpredictable as me might say something that would hurt them."

"Kakashi-sensei." Zuo Hao opened his eyes. The Three Tomoe in his Sharingan turned slowly, like twin blood-red moons sinking into deep water. "Tell me. Were we Uchiha always unwanted in this village?"

"No." Kakashi's voice was steady again. "You are not unwanted."

Just then, an unexpected visitor appeared in the doorway.

It was Neji Hyuga!