Just as a heads up, this chapter deals with a bit more of the mental problems Kakashi is feeling rather than physical. There are brief mentions/thoughts of suicide. If those bother you, you can skip the chapter and I'll have a summary in the next one.

Going through these things day after day was exhausting. Kakashi wasn't sure how much longer he would last. He frowned as he sat up in the large bed and looked around. He felt lost and rather confused. How long had he been stuck in this room? He got up and shuffled around as much as he was able, the chain on his ankle, stopping him from going too far from the bed. He'd tried using a few spells to get it off, but obviously Kakuzu had enchanted it with something rather high level. He wasn't sure how he'd get out of it. After a moment of staring at the damned metal, he carefully got up and walked to the mirror. He frowned at his appearance. He had dark bags under his eyes from not sleeping, bruises covered his body, most obviously on his wrists and then there were the bite marks. He hated how many Kakuzu had left all over his neck. There were a few other places, but they weren't as noticeable. It was basically pointless to get dressed at this point as well. Kakuzu always tore whatever he was wearing off anyway. It was awful. After standing and examining himself in the mirror, Kakashi quietly walked over to a table and took some of the food off of it. He really didn't feel like eating though. He supposed things could be worse, but this was just horrible. He hated it. The only thing that helped was knowing Itachi was alive because of him for the most part. That and his family was also safe as far as he knew. Hopefully they wouldn't be found.

Time seemed to escape Kakashi now. He didn't know what day it was, how long he'd been stuck there or even worse, the last time he'd seen Itachi. There was no distinction between day and night anymore. Kakuzu came and went as he pleased and the window has since been boarded so he couldn't see out of it. It was awful. He was slowly losing all sense of reality, time and himself. He didn't know how much longer he could stand it. Would Itachi be upset with him? Would they even tell Itachi if he was gone? Or would they just pretend they still had him so they could manipulate the Uchiha? No, that was bad. He shouldn't think like that. It was the equivalent of giving up.

Then again, he didn't know if he really felt like he could do much else than that. Kakashi groaned as he rolled onto his stomach and looked towards the door. Was everything really as hopeless as it seemed? For a minute, Kakashi felt himself tearing up. He couldn't think like that could he? Or he shouldn't but things were just wearing him down and it was awful. He groaned as he shook his head trying to push the negative thoughts away. Why did things have to be so difficult?

If anything, he needed to give Itachi a reason to keep living and not give up right? But even if he was gone it wouldn't matter. Itachi would be upset and he would truly hate that he was gone. But Itachi has his family. He would be able to get on in life without him. Then again, doing that to his own family would be horrible since they'd only just gotten back to each other. Would they be mad at him for doing something like that?

He frowned before he heard a knock at the door. It was timid and rather faint so it had to be the girl and her keeper. He carefully got up and got a robe on before walking slowly to the door. He peeked quietly out of the door and swallowed thickly when he was met with the sight of Hinata and Neji.

"We were told to come and check on your well-being." Hinata said gently as she tried to see more than just his face. At that, he quietly opened the door to let the two Hyuga in. "Oh my...y-you've certainly need...some care."

"That man is horrible." Neji spoke up as he carefully set the bag they'd brought down. "We will give you some basics, but you will have to continue applying them yourself."

"I-I'd like to ask if...you could help me. I-I need to die." Kakashi said slowly as he looked over the pair. Neji and Hinata frowned and looked between each other before they turned their gazed back to Kakashi. "I need you two to help me die, or appear dead. So much so that Kakuzu will give me up. That will help Itachi and it will possibly lose one of the strongest fighters of this group. I...I don't know what else to do."

"You realize this is a dangerous plow to attempt? If you're found out or we are, there will be grave consequences. We...it will be difficult to even try and find some way to do this without being suspected or caught. You realize this right?" Neji asked as he looked at the older man.

"I do. I am sorry to do this to you two but I...I don't know what else to do. This chain he put on my ankle is restricting my movements and I can't remove it. It can't do much else than lay in bed and waste away. It's...it's suffocating. I-i can't keep this up much longer." Kakashi explained as he shook his head. "If I'm gone then Itachi will not worry about me and he'll be able to get away. Please."

"I can't say that I...I understand what you're going through. But I can't condone such a thing. Trying to lull yourself or appear as though you've died will be horrible and difficult." Hinata tried to argue as she looked at them. It would be horrible and hard. "But the torture they are putting you through it even worse. We will see what we can do for you."

At those words, Kakashi felt tears flooding his eyes. He wasn't sure what to do or say now. He nearly collapsed into Hinata's arms and tried to keep from sobbing. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

"You are welcome." Hinata whispered as she rubbed his back. "Now, we need to get you patched up alright? Even if we are going to try and go through with this plan of yours...it will be hard. We need to keep up the appearance that you are getting treated."

"That will be the best way to try and get through this." Neji offered as they began to apply ointments here and there on Kakashi's body. He hoped they would help with some of the marks so they wouldn't become scars, but he wasn't too sure if that would be the case. "We will leave several ointments here with you that you have to keep putting on."

"I will continue with the applications until I know that we have a clear plan." Kakashi promised as he watched and made sure he knew what went where. "I appreciate you two going out of your way like this."

"We will expect help in return if this works. Despite our statuses as the royal family here, we are captives. We have not been allowed to leave or give our input in this war. We want to escape as well so that we will not be used as hostages or something of the like." Neji explained as he finished with Kakashi's legs. "So we will expect your assistance when you have escaped."

"Yes, of course. I will try to do as much as I can. But without others...I am not much help." The older prince explained.

"We understand, by any and all help will be appreciated." Hinata countered as she finished with his arms. Standing up, she moved back and tried not to blush too much. "W-we will leave some extra so that you may apply it to other areas that we cannot."

"Thank you both. I appreciate it more than I can currently express. But you should go. He will likely be back soon. I would rather not have you in trouble or scolded for being around me." He said gently. The pair nodded and bowed before leaving some more ointment and leaving. Once he was sure they were gone, Kakashi undressed again and began applying ointment to the areas that were more private. For the first time in weeks, he felt a small sense of hope swelling in his chest.