Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, its plot or characters. I own any OC, my plot, and anything else you don't recognize unless otherwise stated.

SNicole25: I have that all planned out. Don't worry.

Just FYI: I use line breaks and the "..." but not interchangeably. I try to only use "..." when the next scene is part of the same topic as the one before and only a little time as gone by. With line breaks it's more of a subject change and/or a time skip greater than a few minutes.

We are one in the same
Oh you take all of the pain away, away, away
'Way, away, away
Save me if I become
My demons

-My Demons –Starset

Yashamaru found himself smiling as he closed the door to Gaara's bedroom. It soon faded when he realized he'd have to explain to Rin's parents where she was. It didn't take him long to find where she lived. It was the only house that had been for sale at the time Rin's family moved. Yashamaru knocked on the door and waited.

"Rin?" A woman asked as she opened the door. She looked a bit surprised to see him their instead of her daughter.

"Mrs…?" Yashamaru realized he didn't know Rin's last name. "You're Rin's mother, yes?"

"Yes. Is she alright?" The woman asked with wide eyes.

"She's fine, she's fine." Yashamaru quickly reassured her. "She made friends with my nephew and he hasn't had a real friend in a while. I hope it's alright if Rin stays the night with us. I haven't seen him this happy in a long time." Rin's mother smiled.

"Rin didn't tell me she made a friend. Who's your nephew?" She asked. Yashamaru hesitated.

"Gaara." The woman's eyes widened. Yashamaru held up his hands before she could respond. "Please, I know you may have heard about him," she nodded with a frown. Yashamaru shook his head. "He's really a kind and gentle kid. It's what's inside him that's bad but it's not him. Rin is his first ever friend because everyone is so afraid of him they don't give him a chance. But I know Gaara; he would never intentionally harm her. She's safe with him and I'm there to watch them."

"You're not there now." She pointed out.

"They're asleep." Yashamaru said. "Please, Mrs.…"

"Hayashi."

"Mrs. Hayashi, even after only two days I can tell having her as a friend means the world to him and he'd never jeopardize that friendship." Mrs. Hayashi bit her bottom lip. "Please."

"I'll… I'll send her brother to bring her home in the morning." She said with a nod.

"Thank you."

The next morning Rin's brother, Kenta, knocked on the door very early. Yashamaru, who was always an early riser, answered the door.

"Where's my sister?" Kenta asked.

"You must be Rin's brother." Yashamaru said with a smile. Kenta had a straight face.

"Where's my sister?" Yashamaru's smiled faltered slightly.

"I'll go get her." he said. "Please come in." Kenta walked in but waited close to the door. Yashamaru walked down a hallway and returned with a sleepy Rin a few moments later. Gaara peeked out from behind the wall. Kenta frowned and avoided looking at him. He grabbed Rin's wrist and pulled her outside making her wake up fully. Gaara gasped and ran to stand in the doorway. Rin looked back at him and smiled.

"I'll see you later at the swings, Gaara!" She called back to him as she waved with her cat in her hand. Gaara waved back and nodded with a small smile on his face.

"Your brother doesn't like me." Gaara said with a frown as he rocked on the swing slowly.

"He's just being a butt." Rin said making Gaara giggle. "I'm sure if he got to know you he'd think you're as cool as I do!" She said with a grin. Gaara's face went pink and he smiled down at his bear shyly.

"Do you wanna sleep over again some time?" He asked.

"Sure!" Rin said with a big smile. She suddenly hopped off the swing and tapped Gaara's shoulder. "Tag you're it!" She said before running away.

"Huh?" Gaara blinked before getting up and running after her. "No fair, Rin!" He laughed with a grin as he chased the giggling girl.

The next time Rin went to Gaara's was the week after and she brought some finger paints that her mother bought for her. Yashamaru helped them set up a table with a cloth so they wouldn't get paint on the wood and a stack of paper for them to use. Since they didn't have grass in Suna, most of their pictures consisted of blue skies and tan sands.

"Boop." Gaara blinked and looked down cross-eyed at the blue paint on his nose. Gaara looked at the giggling Rin and smirked.

"Boop." Rin looked at the blue on her own nose then playfully glared at the snickering Gaara.

...

Yashamaru walked into the kitchen where to two had been painting and sighed with a smile when he saw the two of them were covered head to toe in coloured hand prints. The two saw him and started giggling.

"You do know you'll have to take a bath now, don't you?" The two stopped giggling and looked from him to each other with wide eyes.

"Run!" Rin shouted. They both jumped up and ran for the door.

"Oh no you don't." Yashamaru said as he scooped up Gaara under one arm as he ran by.

"Gaara!" Run shouted.

"Save yourself, Rin!" Gaara shouted reaching out to her.

"No, Gaara!" Rin shouted back also reaching out.

"You two are so dramatic." Yashamaru said rolling his eyes as he scooped up Rin under his other arm. The two looked at each other from behind his back and giggled.

...

Gaara and Rin sat with their backs facing each other and their knees to their chests in the bathtub. They whined as Yashamaru poured water over their heads.

"Next time you should keep the paint on the paper." Yashamaru said with an amused smile. He got some shampoo and started to wash Gaara's hair. Gaara let out a tiny gasp and swatted his hands away. Yashamaru blinked.

"I-I can do it myself!" He said as his face went pink. Rin giggled and Gaara's face became redder. Yashamaru chuckled and handed the shampoo to Rin.

"Alright. I'll be right back with towels. Don't start a soap or water fight while I'm gone." The two nodded and Yashamaru left.

"I'm sorry about painting your nose." Rin said.

"It's okay. I'm sorry about painting your nose." Gaara said.

"It's okay." Rin said. "When I'm a ninja I'll be able to dodge any paint you throw at me." Gaara chuckled.

"Well, when I'm a ninja I'll be able to paint you without you even noticing."

"I'll paint a smiley face on your forehead." Rin said with a giggle.

"Then I'll give you another blue nose." Gaara laughed. The two were still giggling when Yashamaru returned with the towels.

Gaara walked into the kitchen and saw Yashamaru making dinner. Gaara tugged on the side of Yashamaru's shirt.

"Have you seen Rin?" he asked. Yashamaru turned to look down at him. "We're playing hide and seek." Gaara explained.

"No, I haven't." Yashamaru said. Giggling could be heard coming from the cabinet under the sink. The two smiled.

"I was gunna ask her if she wanted to have some ice cream with me." Gaara said loudly as Yashamaru tried to hold back a smile. "I guess if I can't find her I'll have to eat her share." He said with a shrug.

"No!" Rin popped out of the cabinet with wide eyes. Gaara chuckled and his uncle tried to hold back his laughter. "Hey! You did that on purpose!" Rin said pointing at Gaara before pouting. "No fair." Gaara grinned. "Do we still get ice cream?" Rin asked. They both looked at Yashamaru with sweet smiles. He chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah!" The two cheered with a high-fived.

I love writing all these cute scenes. I'm working on chapter five now. Thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites!