Reincarnation;

Noun—The incarnation or embodiment of a soul in a new body after it has left the old one at physical death.

This was it.

Holed up in the basement of a decrepit, abandoned apartment building in the slums of Suna—Kiyoshi paid little mind to the fact that his fingertips were turning blue from the cold, that his breath was coming out in small puffs of steam—drifting up in the darkness of the room towards the ceiling.

Pale hands trembling, dirt caked under his fingernails, the man walked over to the shelf—hesitating as he decided who to bring back first. Gut instinct was to bring back his wife or his daughter, but that would bring too much suspicion.

That day would come soon though.

Picking up a small box gingerly, the man spoke softly—as if he was being listened in on right now. "You most definitely left early… didn't you Lady Karura? I felt very guilty for digging up your grave, but it was needed so I could use this technique—I hope you and your family can forgive me for this." Gently setting the box down on the table, opening the lid and transposing all of the contents— an skull, several strands of straw colored hair, and what he knew to be several bones from what had been the woman's left hand.

A wild fit of giggles erupted from the man's lips as he performed the Edo-Tensei, years of research and planning had all come to this point—tears of joy pricking his eye as he realized that he had in fact done it correctly, what had once been a pile of bones laying on the scroll was now the Kazekage's mother—fully in the flesh.

First instinct was to check if she was breathing, if she had a pulse, but as hand drifted through the air to put fingers on her neck—he remembered that this technique did not bring people back to life, just made their souls inhabit their bodies once more. To check her pulse would fruitless. A small chuckle at his own foolishness, Kiyoshi got to work dressing the woman in the cheap set of tan and white robes he had bought from the store.

They would be a bit too large for the woman, but at the very least she would not wake up in a strange place like the slums in the nude. Picking her up very gently after pulling his hood over his face, Kiyoshi carried her out of the building—making sure not to jostle her awake as he stepped outside into the night air.

It was good for him, he thought, that he had found this part of the slums to use. No one came to this part unless they were doing something horribly illegal, and if someone saw him here they would not rat him out. For simply being in this part of the village meant you were here to buy something you most certainly should not, or were committing a murder of sorts. No one in their right mind would incriminate themselves by saying they were here.

Setting the women down, Kiyoshi quickly jogged to an alleyway—peering behind a corner, watching as she woke up slowly and looked about in confusion.

It had worked.

Hurrying to his laboratory, Kiyoshi got to work. He would bring back the Kazekage's uncle next. Then those who had died in the war—or at least those whose bodies had been able to come back to the village were brought back. Panting gently after he had brought back five more people and placed them outside.

There was no way he could continue tonight, almost out of chakra it was all he could do to walk himself to his home. Passing through the entryway, he could not help but smile at the picture of him, his wife, and their daughter, that was hanging on the wall as he closed the door. His voice very soft as he reached out to gently touch the picture frame—a gentle, tired, smile growing on his face as brown eyes looked at the two people he missed the most in the world. "I'll bring you back soon. Akemi, Atsuko. I'll bring you back and we'll be a family again. Just wait a few more days—it will be alright."

"Yashamaru?"

Eyes opening in the darkness of the night at a voice he had not heard for years, violet irises surrounded by black sclera it took a few moments for the man to realize what was going on, swallowing thickly when he saw the concerned face of his older sister hovering above him. Bolting upright, the blonde man quickly hugged the woman he'd missed so much, hands tightly gripping the robe on her back as he clung to her tightly—tears burning his eyes as he tried not to cry. "Karura-! You're alive—" a small pause as he broke away just enough to look at their surroundings. Something was not right; this was most certainly not what he had remembered last. "I'm supposed to be dead… why am I back…?"

Lips in a thin line, Karura stayed silent as she thought about what could have happened before finally shaking her head. "I don't know… but we'll figure it out together, alright?" smiling at her brother brightly despite the situation and their surroundings, "We always figure it out Yashamaru."