Kazaru

is the Seventh Kazekage (七代目風影, Shichi Kazekage; Literally meaning "Seventh Wind Shadow") of Sunagakure. He is the only child of the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara, as well as the grandson of the Fourth Kazekage. He is famed like his predecessors in the regards of mastering magnetic manipulation, though in the form of Silver Dust, which serves multiple purposes throughout the village, unlike that of it's counterparts.

Background
Kazaru was born as the first and only child of the Fourth Kazekage, Gaara, and his former apprentice, Matsuri. Gaara had endured a difficult upbringing as a child, as a result of having had the one-Tailed Beast, Shukaku, sealed within him by Lady Chiyo, thus, making him a Jinchūriki. As a child, Gaara made many attempts to connect to the people of Sunagakure, all of whom feared him because of his connection with Shukaku. Seeing him only as the monster he contained, it seemed for a time Yashamaru was the only person who cared at all about Gaara. When Gaara unintentionally hurt others due to the subconscious abilities granted to him by the beast, Yashamaru alone understood that Gaara hadn't intended to harm anyone. The Sunagakure Council, however, considered Gaara's frequent attacks a serious threat to the village. Disappointed in the turn of events, Gaara's father decided to test his son by having Yashamaru attack Gaara both physically and psychologically in an attempt to see if Gaara could control over Shukaku. Yashamaru revealed to Gaara that his mother had never loved him, and tried to assassinate him, only to be fatally wounded by Gaara before the boy realized whom he had attacked.

Although Gaara initially tried to consider Yashamaru's attack ordered by his father, Yashamaru lied to him and said he had willingly accepted the mission to kill Gaara. After the traumatic experience of losing his uncle and being told nobody had ever loved him, Gaara became an aloof and cruel person who obsessively killed people in an attempt to prove his own existence, and to obtain recognition from the village. He gave up any and all desire for friendship. Seeing that Gaara was unable to cope with the loss of his mother's affection, the Fourth Kazekage deemed him a failure and arranged several assassination attempts on his son, which only made Gaara detest his father more. After his defeat at the hands of Naruto, Gaara was shocked to discover that Naruto understood very well the pain he had endured throughout his life. He was even more surprised to learn that Naruto had never lost his ambition to be recognized as an individual, and had ultimately found companions who truly cared for him. Witnessing the resolution Naruto possessed to protect his friends caused Gaara to finally question the path he had determined for himself as a young child. Realizing that he had given up too easily, Gaara decided to follow Naruto's chosen path instead in order to finally be seen as a human being, and not the tailed beast within him.

Learning from his own experiences, Gaara sought to create a better environment for his son. He, alongside his wife, Matsuri, provided Kazaru with an unbearable amount of love. Kazaru's parents also made sure the boy was given proper contact with the outside world, allowing him to see and experience things by his own hand, rather than be secluded, like Gaara had been during his childhood. Ultimately, Gaara and Matsuri accomplished their goals, as Kazaru turned out to be a very social, out-going individual, who came to make many friends during his time at the academy.

When Kazaru came of age, Gaara, as Kazekage and father, took it upon himself to ensure his son would grow to become an outstanding shinobi, with the aid of his own siblings, formerly known as the Sand Siblings, Kankuro and Temari. Like his grandfather, the Fourth Kazekage, Kazaru was born with the privilege of Magnet Release, an advanced chakra nature kekkei genkai which allows the user to convert chakra into magnetic forces and magnetize an object. In the past, several Kazekage had made use of this special ability to control different elements, the Third Kazekage had manipulated Iron, producing the Iron Sand technique, the Fourth Kazekage had manipulated gold, producing the Gold Dust technique, and the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara, had manipulated sand, producing the Sand technique. As the former host of Shukaku, Gaara provided thorough explanations to his son, displaying proper usage of utilizing the Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai. Renowned as Gaara of the Desert, it was no surprise to anyone that Gaara was indeed, a master of sand. However, as the master of sand, Gaara himself knew of the many disadvantages in manipulating sand, for instance, when met with a Water Release technique, sand could be easily countered. With the many cons of manipulating sand in mind, Gaara searched for the proper element for his child to manipulate, concluding with the discovery of Silver.

With his new found Silver element, Kazaru trained intensively under the tutelage of his father, Gaara, the fifth Kazakage, resulting in the ladder transforming into a promising Kage candidate for the years to come. Kazaru's swift development brought tears to the eyes of his proud father, who declared his sand manipulation inferior to that of his son's Silver Dust technique.

Similar to the vast majority of Sunagakure shinobi, Kazaru was also born with the ability to garner Wind Release techniques, courtesy of both his parents possessing the nature typing. For proper growth in the wind field, Kazaru sought out his aunt, Temari, who was labeled as a true genius when it came to that regard. With no hesitation what so ever, Temari trained her nephew happily, sharing with him the secrets to some of her most profound techniques, in the hopes of one day, that he could grow powerful enough to claim the title of Kazekage. Kazaru also studied immensely under his uncle, Kankurō, who shared his keen intellect skills with the boy. Thanks to these extra training sessions, Kazaru grew an immunity to all forms of toxic and poisons, after having been thoroughly tested upon by Kankuro himself.

Appearance
Kazaru is a relatively lean, dark-skinned man of above average height, with a striking resemblance to his grandfather, the Fourth Kazekage, as well as to his own father, the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara. His hair is short and spiky, and auburn in color, red in the anime. When using his Silver Dust technique, dark markings appear around his eyes that bear strong resemblance to Gaara's own dark markings.

Throughout his lifetime, Kazaru has been seen sporting several outfits. During his days at the academy, he wore black full body suit with t-shirt-like sleeves, ¾-length legs, and an open neck. With this, he wore a white cloth over his right shoulder and the left side of his hips, and a wide leather band system over the left shoulder and right side of his hips. He also wrapped his black forehead protector over the band, upon graduating from the academy at the age of nine.

As a jōnin, and whilst serving as the temporary third bodyguard for his father, Gaara, the Fifth Kazekage, he wore full-length dark trousers, with a pair of laces on each leg, respectively a few inches below the waist and the knees, a long-sleeved crimson coat with flaring hemlines and slits down on the lower half of the front and the back, a grey holster vest held in place by a single strap over his left shoulder. He also wore another pair of casually worn belts around his waist.

As the Kazekage, he wears the standard attire of the Kazekage which consists of a loose fitting blue kimono with a white jacket and the signature hat with the kanji for wind (風) inscribed in the very center. Beneath the top hat, he is occasionally seen hiding his face with a vanilla colored cloth, attached from the sides of the hat.