At last, this story has come to an end. Thank you for sticking around with me all this time even as I procrastinated so much on it. Thank you for the wonderful reviews, especially Prescripto13, who had reviewed almost all of the chapters. I always feel so happy when people write about how they like the story. Thank you to all who supported this story! Now, may I present to you the final chapter of Torn from Within. I don't own the characters.

The square that had been a battlefield a few months ago was now filled with ninja watching as the Hokage and new village chief sat on the raised dais, a scroll rolled open on the table. Minato scanned the pages of the scroll, going through it one last time before standing up, the chair squeaking as he raised a hand. "Do I have any objections?" he asked from his committee of advisors. No one said anything and instead shook their heads whilst the Kagune Village side did the same. Minato smiled as he walked to the center of the dais, followed by Teku, the new chief of the village and raised his hand. "I welcome you to the Land of Fire, Teku-sama," Minato said as Teku nodded, "Thank you for the honor, Hokage-sama."

The crowd assembled erupted with cheers as confetti rained from the air, the people of the village celebrating their long isolation from the land as they were reunited with it. Minato smiled as his aide rolled the scroll and handed it to him. "Let this bring Kagune Village into a new era of peace with Konoha and the Land of Fire. I welcome you to our family!" Minato said as he and Teku raised their hands in the air, the crowd clapping as they shook hands. Teku looked ready to cry as he said from the corner of his mouth, "I never thought I would the day come where we could return to the land of Fire."

"You're valuable to us, despite your gifts being dangerous. We could use skilled ninja such as yourselves," Minato said as he smiled to the crowd, Kushina, and Naruto somewhere at the side with the family of the other higher-ups, Kushina with a smile on her face and Naruto gave him a thumbs up. Minato sighed, glad that although his son failed to pass the Chunin exams, he was alright since there had been an uprising by the Hidden Village in the Sand lead by Orochimaru. That was another problem he needed to attend to once this was finished.

"Say, Kakashi isn't here today with his friends?" Teku asked. Kakashi's predicament had finally come to the light so once he had returned from the mission, Minato set out to find a suitable organ donor for him, which wasn't an easy task since not many ninja liked the idea of donating their organs. Finally, they managed to find one and Kakashi were scheduled to go under the knife that day. He had been sad about missing such an important event but regardless of that, he sent his regards to Teku and the others.

"Man, he said he was going to show us how to deal with real missions! I can't wait to get out of the village and explore the world outside!" Kahn smiled, his comrades nodding in agreement about it. This would be the first time they would exit the village without having to fear for their lives, although the people of the land were still a bit dubious about finding out of their existence. Still, as long as they promised not to eat anyone, they're off the hook. "I pray that Kakashi would be able to live a normal life soon," Teku said as Minato nodded, wishing all the best to Kakashi from his heart.

…

Kakashi lay in his hospital bed, his head deep into Icha Icha Paradise. A slight blush was on his cheeks as he got to a particularly erotic scene when he heard a slight cough from the corner of the room. "Do you really have to read this sort of stuff?' Rin groaned as she set up the equipment to bring him to the operating theatre. "Well, I am single so no harm done trying to fantasize about it," Kakashi smiled from behind his mask, only to get a glare from Rin. "Guys…" she sighed as she cradled her belly, a slight look of pain on her face. "Are you sure you want to operate on me when your baby is due weeks away?" Kakashi said as she nodded. "I got you into this mess in the first place, so it's my duty to set things right. Obito doesn't mind so…" she finished her sentence by poking a needle into his arm, making him flinch a little.

"Now just relax and you should be asleep in around 10 minutes," Rin said as she rested a hand on his. Kakashi felt the warmth spread through his body and he felt himself slowly relaxing, the wind ruffling his hair as the nurses entered and began to wheel him to the operating theatre. The others were busy with their missions but he could feel their prayers in his heart, wishing for him a steady recovery to the road of normality. "Rin, do me a favor and don't remove my mask," Kakashi whispered, earning some glares from the nurses, who had clearly been hoping to get a glimpse of his mysterious face during the operation. "Will do," Rin smiled and Kakashi drifted off into a dream where he was standing in a field of red flowers.

"Where am I?" he thought as he heard a laugh coming from one end. It had been a while since he heard her and Ayume walked towards him, her hands clasped behind her back as she smiled, her dress pure white. "So, you're finally going to try and become a human again?" she said as he nodded. "I've spent enough time with your curse." "Oh, you call it a curse? I was born with it and although I considered it a curse, it brought me to Ayato." She kicked the flowers with the end of her barefoot, letting some petals fly into the air.

"I was thirsty for blood and him for the freedom of the village. So we did everything we could to free ourselves from the system but look where that got us," she smiled a little savagely. "But I never regretted being born a ghoul. Or meeting Ayato. If I could say what was my biggest blessing, it would be those two," she said as she faced Kakashi one last time. He thought she looked almost as sweet and innocent as a normal 20-year-old but he knew how she could be a ruthless killer. Maybe she was human somewhere inside. "Well, if you die during the operation, no hard feelings?" she grinned as he bowed his head. "I won't die so easily," he said as she winked, "Then this is goodbye." With that, all the flowers in the field exploded into red but as they fell around him, they turned into white.

...

"Wow, that's your third bowl already," Obito gaped as Kakashi slurped down the bowl of ramen as he held it out. "Another," he said as the stall owner grinned, "Got it!" Kakashi had managed to recover his ability to digest human food and he had been eating like crazy ever since as though he might regain his cannibalism tendencies at any minute. Gai and Obito treated him to a meal after his discharge from the hospital but as they saw the food bowls piling, they began to wonder if it was a good idea. "Wah! Thanks for the meal, Obito! Gai-sensei!" Naruto grinned from the corner. He had insisted to come along since they were going to Inchiraku Ramen and since he had done well on the mission, they thought it wouldn't do any harm to let him have a bowl or two until they realized he would easily have three bowls of ramen.

"How's Rin doing?" Kakashi asked as Obito scratched his head. Rin had been in labor a few days ago and had given birth to a beautiful baby boy. Obito had handled the child like he was carrying glass and Kakashi had to take over for a bit, although he didn't do that well himself. Rin held the baby close to her chest, letting the child go to sleep as both of them rested after a long day. "She's fine. Should be able to go home in a few days," Obito said as he ran his hand through his hair, a habit he had gained after watching Rin go into labor and nearly driving him up the wall. "Don't worry, Obito! You're a brave and good man so you should be able to handle a child with ease!" Gai grinned as he smacked a hand on Obito's shoulder, nearly making him spit out the water in his mouth.

Kakashi chuckled as he drank his water, careful not to reveal his face to his student as he set his chopsticks down. "Thanks for the meal," Kakashi and Naruto said as they walked out of the stall, Obito and Gai having much lighter wallets than before as they walked to the crossroads of the village. Naruto and Kakashi walked to where the rest of Team Seven were while Obito and Gai went their separate ways. Before Obito went off, he pulled Kakashi to the corner and told him he had signed up to be a genin leader after retiring from the Anbu. Kakashi had been happy with that since it would mean Rin didn't have to worry about how likely Obito would be able to come home. "Sensei! What are we going to do today?" Naruto grinned as Kakashi ruffled his hair. "Let's see what life tells us to do," he smiled, gazing at the sky as a new day began for him as a human once more.

Thank you for reading this. Ave atque vale and until we meet again, sayonnara.