A happy red-haired girl sat in the middle of the floor finger-painting with on a big sheet of white paper. She hummed softly to herself as her hands smeared the paint across the smooth surface. Her emerald-green eyes were glistening brilliantly and were filled with life and joy. Her hair resembled her fathers, although it wasn't anywhere near as dark. She definitely resembled her father, except for her eyes. Her eyes were the same color and shape as her mother's.

The six year old girl giggled and got to her feet. She stepped in the paint with her bare feet, wiggling her toes in the squishy mess. Being as careful as she could, she stepped onto the piece of paper and walked all over it, leaving her footprints behind. When she finished, she got off the paper and sat down on the floor. She took a wet rag and wiped the messy paint off of her feet.

"What are you doing Misa?" a small voice asked. The girl looked over her shoulder a grinned. Standing behind her was a six year old boy with white hair like his mother's and sea-green eyes like his father's.

"Come here Haru," she told him, waving her brother over. "Come put your handprint on my picture."

"I don't want to ruin it," he said softly. Misa giggled and got up. She took his hands and led him over to her picture.

"You won't ruin it," she assured him. The two of them knelt down. Misa took her brother's hand and dipped it into the blue paint. "Let's put it right here so we know that it's yours." The white haired boy nodded and pressed his hand against the paper. He kept it there for a few seconds before lifting it.

"Is that good?"

"It's great!" Haru blushed slightly and smiled weakly. "Well, I'm going to do my homework while it dries."

"I already did mine." Misa gave him a weird look.

"You always get your homework done first," she pouted.

"You could too if you didn't wait so long to get it started."

"I know." Misa skipped off, leaving Haru alone. The young boy sat down by the window sill, looking out at the busy streets of Suna. He heaved a sad sigh, seeing kids from his class playing soccer. He wanted to play with them, but the last time he did, the kids teased him because he was different. He was the only kid in his class with white hair. Everyone else had brown or black or darkish hair colors. He stood out like a polar bear in a jungle.

He liked his white hair and he didn't mind being different. It was being excluded and made fun of that he didn't like. He wanted to have friends, like his sister had.

"Why does it have to be so hard?" he wondered to himself.

"Is something wrong Haru?" The white haired boy turned his head and saw his father taking a seat next to him.

"Nothing is wrong," he muttered. The red-head raised an invisible eyebrow, doubting that nothing was bothering his child.

"Well, why aren't you outside playing with your friends?" Gaara asked.

"They're not my friends. I don't have any friends." There was pain in the red-head's eyes.

"Why not Haru?"

"Because no one likes me!" the child snapped. The boy looked at his father with tearful eyes. "They think that I'm too different. They tease me and say that I'm only half Suna blood. Is that true father? Am I really that different?" Gaara pulled his son into his arms and hugged him tightly. The white-haired boy cried into his father's shirt.

"It's hard, isn't it?" Gaara asked, softly. The boy nodded. "I know what it's like Haru, believe me, I really do. At least you have your mother, your sister, and me. You know that we love you, right?" Haru looked up at him with sad eyes and nodded.

"Yes, I know," he whispered, snuggling against his father's chest. "You had trouble making friends too?" Gaara chuckled and nodded.

"Yes, I had a really hard time making friends. Your mother was actually my very first friend, but then she had to move away. I actually have more friends in Konoha than I do here."

"What's Konoha?" Haru asked, looking slightly confused. Gaara smirked and ruffled his hair.

"It's a village that is an ally to our village. In other words, it's another village that is friendly towards us. You have plenty of time to make friends."

"What about friends?" Gaara looked up to see Misa slowly walking over to them.

"It's nothing," he told her softly.

"He's having trouble making friends, right?" The red-head sighed and nodded. Misa smiled slightly.

"It's none of your business Misa," the white-haired boy mumbled.

"I just thought that I could help," she told him. "There's a new girl in our class. They just moved here from Konoha." Gaara thought about this for a moment, knowing what she was talking about. The family had moved into Suna about a week ago and had just enrolled their children into the ninja academy. "I invited her and her brother over tomorrow. Is that alright father?" The red-head looked into her begging eyes before nodding. She squealed happily and skipped out of the room.

"Are you okay?" he asked his son. The young boy slowly nodded.

"Thank you." Gaara smiled and kissed his son on the forehead, making Haru chuckle softly.

XxooooooooxX

Haru was sitting at the kitchen table, working on making a puppet with the parts that Kankurou had given him. It was a small, toy-sized puppet, but it was a start.

"Haru!" The white-haired boy looked up to see his sister and two other people that he hadn't seen before.

"What is it Misa?" he asked softly, putting his things down and hopping down from his chair. He looked at the boy that was standing in front of him. He had golden blonde hair and deep blue eyes. Actually, he could only see one eye because the other one was hidden by his hair.

"Haru, this is Seiji. He doesn't know anybody around Suna. Can you hang out with him to today?" He sighed before nodding. Misa and her friend scurried out of the room giggling.

"I'm Haru," the white-haired boy introduced. The blonde nodded and smiled nervously.

"You don't have to hang out with me if you don't want to," Seiji muttered.

"It's alright. I want to. I was working on my puppet, but I can do it later. Is there anything you want to do?"

"Could you show me around?" he asked. Haru smiled and nodded.

"Let's go," he rushed ahead of the blonde and ran down the hall. When he turned the corner, he ran right into his father. He looked up and blushed.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. Gaara smirked and looked at the blonde standing behind him.

"Is this your friend?" he asked. Seiji smiled at the word and Haru nodded.

"This is Seiji. He moved here from Konoha, just like your friends." Gaara smiled and nodded.

"It's nice to meet you Seiji. I hope you and your family are getting used to life here in Suna."

"Thank you sir."

"I'm going to show him around Suna." Gaara nodded.

"Be back before dark."

The two boys dashed off. Gaara walked up the stairs and went into his room. He plopped down on the bed beside Akina.

"Haru made a new friend," he whispered. Akina smiled.

"That's nice," she giggled. Gaara nodded. "You know, he may not look like you, but his personality is a splitting image of you when you were six." The red-head smirked.

"Yeah, I know. Only difference is that he won't have to go through everything I had to." Akina kissed him on the cheek.

"You are such a wonderful father," she whispered into his ear.

It has finally come to an end. I hope that you all liked the ending.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed for during this story. A special thank you to those of you who reviewed last chapter.

NeferNeferi, Kita Kudai, and AddictedtoBleach.

I'm working on a High School Fic. right now, for those of you who are interested. It's called "Make Me Whole".

Thanks again to everyone who reviewed.

Please review!