Gaara

Gaara (我愛羅, Gaara) renown as "Gaara of the Sand Waterfall" (砂瀑の我愛羅, Sabaku no Gaara; English "Gaara of the Desert"). Gaara is the third and youngest child of the Fourth Kazekage and Karura, and the younger brother of Temari and Kankurō. Before Gaara's birth, his father had Chiyo seal Shukaku within him, in hopes that Gaara would become the ultimate weapon for Sunagakure as he was the only one of the Kazekage's three children to be compatible with the beast. He was born premature and therefore, was an unusually small and frail infant. Before she died, Karura passionately held her son, vowing to always protect him. Gaara was trained in ninjutsu by his father, but mainly raised by his maternal uncle, Yashamaru.Yashamaru's attack as his father's order, Yashamaru lied to him by saying that he had willingly accepted the mission to kill Gaara.[8] He also lied that he never truly loved Gaara, and told him that killing him would avenge the death of his sister, who had named him Gaara after the phrase "a self-loving carnage" (我を愛する修羅, Ware o aisuru shura), a sign of her intense hatred for Suna rather than love for her son. In the last ditch effort to kill Gaara, Yashamaru detonated a number of explosive tags covering his body, asking Gaara to "please die". Using his sand, Gaara survived the blast, and lost the only person he thought had cared for him, while not knowing the true reasons behind Yashamaru's actions. Gaara then used his sand to etch the kanji for love (愛, ai) onto his forehead.[9][10] Gaara then lost control and transformed into Shukaku, rampaging around the village before his father stopped him with Gold Dust.

Since this incident, Gaara became an aloof and cruel person who would kill anyone to prove his existence and to obtain recognition from the village, all the while giving up any desire for friendship. Seeing that Gaara was unable to cope with the loss of his mother's love, the Kazekage deemed him a failure and arranged several assassinations of his son that all failed yet made Gaara hate his father even more. In time, Gaara's new ideology allowed better control over Shukaku, and his father would come to appreciate this and the uses he could serve, and cancelled all assassination orders. This revived the idea of having Gaara as the ultimate weapon of the village.

Personality
Gaara swearing that he will live only for himself. Gaara was once a kind child who, despite their fear and hatred towards him, tried desperately to be friendly towards others. His uncle, Yashamaru's, actions changed and twisted his personality. Misled into believing nobody loved him, Gaara used his sand to create the kanji on his forehead "love" (愛, ai), as a symbol of his ideal to be a "demon loving only itself", and to live up to the name his mother gave him. Gaara became emotionally withdrawn and silent, as he was consumed with a loathing towards everyone but himself and "Mother", the voice of Shukaku in his head. He learned to derive pleasure and a reason to live in the annihilation of the numerous assassins sent to kill him — and by extension, anyone who posed a threat to his own existence. This was worsened by Shukaku's occasional demand for blood to satisfy its bloodlust, resulting in Gaara's remorseless nature, demonstrated when he murdered Baiu and Midare, despite their pleas for mercy. Gaara's insomnia forced fear upon him; if he were to fall asleep, the demon within him would begin to eat away at his soul. This only furthered his instability and desire to kill. Gaara's hatred for his own father is due to the the multiple assassination attempts, but his misanthropic nature even extended to his siblings, whom he never saw as related to him, despite them never offending him directly. He was fully willing to kill them if he viewed that the situation called for it. In addition, due to the sand activating at any time injury would otherwise befall Gaara, he never saw his own blood until Sasuke Uchiha pierced his shield and injured him, thus causing Gaara to have a mental break down.[13]

Gaara's childhood was similar to Naruto Uzumaki's in many ways. Both were unbearably lonely and longed to be liked, loved and acknowledged as individuals, free of the prejudices of others — they were human beings, not the demons they had been forced to contain — and were driven to separate states of desperation. While Naruto consequently developed the misconception that pranks and mischief would bring him the attention he sought, Gaara came to the conclusion that he could preserve and confirm his own existence by killing any and all who challenged it, securing this extreme form of existentialism as his key trait. In the absence of outside recognition, he could compensate by valuing only himself to the exclusion of every other person. Furthermore, while Naruto eventually had Iruka Umino and Team Kakashi to comfort him, Gaara never bonded with anyone, not even his father or siblings, as they too despised and feared Shukaku. The person who grew the closest to acknowledging Gaara was his mother's brother Yashamaru. Yashamaru was ordered to betray Gaara, transforming him into a lonely sociopath. As such, Gaara couldn't understand the concept of fighting for anything but himself until his confrontation with Naruto.

After his defeat at Naruto's hands, 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 never lost his ambition to be recognized as an individual, and ultimately found companions who truly cared for him. Witnessing the resolution Naruto possessed to protect his friends made Gaara finally question the path he had determined for himself. Realizing that he gave up too easily, Gaara decided to follow Naruto's chosen path instead in order to finally have people acknowledge him as an individual, and not the tailed-beast within him. Over the next few years, Gaara's resolve to find happiness caused him to rely on his own power rather than that of Shukaku. Gaara eventually formed a close friendship with Naruto, and became rather protective of him.

Gaara crying after learning the truth about his mother. Since becoming one of Naruto's companions, Gaara has somehow taken on his ability to alter people's personalities. In the anime, he convinced Matsuri to overcome her fear of weapons. During the Kage Summit, he shocked the older, more experienced Kage by asking them when they had forsaken themselves, later causing Ōnoki to become much more determined to protect the Shinobi World. Before the Shinobi Alliance marched off to battle, he motivated them to set aside their differences, forget their past rivalries and unite under a single banner. He even managed to make Naruto think about the choices he had made in regards to Sasuke, stating that he only cared about revenge. His bond with Naruto has also made him capable of tossing aside any grudge, including his previous hatred of his father, who was partly responsible for Gaara's miserable childhood. He admits to having forgiven his father's actions, but openly weeps after learning that his mother truly did love him, and that she had vowed to protect him forever by infusing her will into his sand which, as his father noted, would always protect him.

Gaara cares deeply for Naruto and his well-being, and despite Sasuke's actions during his assault at the Kage Summit and his status as an international criminal, went so far as to attempt to convince Sasuke to come out of the darkness one more time on behalf of Naruto, and when unconvinced, even shed a tear for the failure Sasuke has become, and the disappointment Naruto will face. Despite respecting Naruto's goals, his care for him does not block his personal beliefs, and he believes his friend's well-being is more important, most prominent is his support to keep Naruto out of the war saying to Tsunade that Naruto took too many risks when it comes to protecting his friends. Gaara also bluntly tells Naruto that chasing after Sasuke is foolish, as he sees him as no longer being able to return from the path of corruption. Though he defies Naruto's goal to bring Sasuke back, he only says this for Naruto's well-being because they are "friends".

Although he remained ruthless against his opponents, Gaara is extremely protective of his allies and innocent people, as seen when he protected his village from Deidara; and his siblings, Darui and even the Raikage against Sasuke. He also deeply understands those who have suffered from loneliness and hatred in the past by the look in their eyes, such as Naruto, Kimimaro, and even Sasuke.

As a Kage, Gaara believes that the ideals of previous generations, that each village must mind their own business and solve their own problems without having to ask for the aid of others in order to keep appearance and honour, is "ridiculous old-fashioned thinking", and that cooperation between the villages is fundamental in order to defeat Akatsuki.

Appearance
Gaara is a little shorter than the average males of his age, which is due to the fact that he was born prematurely. He has fair skin and short, spiky, auburn hair which was sometimes depicted as red in the earlier parts of the series. He has green eyes, however; this colour has alternated somewhat during the series. In a flashback of his youth his eyes are depicted as light blue but for the majority of the series they are depicted as being green the pupils of which, are mostly invisible. Gaara has no distinctive eyebrows either. He has two very notable traits in his appearance: firstly, he has tanuki-like black eye rings, having them since his birth. Secondly, he carved the kanji "love" (愛, ai) on the left side of his forehead, having it since Yashamaru's betrayal. Gaara's forelocks are parted from the left side, making the kanji more visible. Matsuri and Sari who both seem to have a crush on Gaara, have described him as the strong silent type, elite and very handsome.

In Part I, Gaara has been seen in two different outfits. When he was seen for the first time, 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. With this leather band, he carried around his gourd that contains his sand. He also wrapped his black forehead protector over the band. In his childhood flashbacks, he was seen wearing a beige poncho-like shawl over a short-sleeved black T-shirt, a white obi around his waist, dark blue pants that were rolled back several times at the hem, revealing the inside cloth to be gray, and black sandals.

In the Sasuke Retrieval Arc, and in the final pre-Shippūden filler arc, he switched his previous black overalls to a reddish-brownish one with longer sleeves and an upright collar. He retained the white cloth, but had mesh armour on his wrists and ankles. He used this costume in Naruto the Movie 2: Legend of the Stone of Gelel as well.

Gaara wearing the Kazekage uniform. Added by UltimateSupremeIn Part II, Gaara had a considerable growth spurt, like Naruto. During his battling against Deidara and during the Kage summit, 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 on the front and the back, a grey holster vest held in place by a single strap over his left shoulder and by two buckled belts which he uses to carry his gourd. He also wears another pair of casually worn belts around his waist. He is also seen wearing Kazekage robes, and a simple black pants suit, the latter one greatly resembling Kankurō's suit, and worn for the memorial of Elder Chiyo. All the time, he has been seen wearing Sunagakure's standard shinobi sandals. As the Regimental Commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces, he added his village's flak jacket to his standard outfit.

Gaara is an extremely powerful shinobi, so much that he was made Kazekage at the age of 15. His powers and status have now become well-respected and praised by everyone in the Allied Shinobi Forces, including other Kage, both the current and previous ones with the Second Mizukage going as far as to call him the "golden egg amongst the Kage",[17] and his father who acknowledged that he had surpassed him in more ways than he could have hoped for.[18] He was also praised by his enemies such as Deidara, who commented on his power after he captured him, losing an arm to Gaara's attack in the process. Even though he had lost his tailed beast Shukaku, he was still powerful enough to remain Kazekage. Gaara's fighting style is a stationary type, as he rarely needs to move his entire body to attack an opponent.

Sand Control
Gaara possesses the ability to manipulate sand, typically moving it through the air to serve various purposes. Being a jinchūriki, Gaara has a large amount of stamina and huge levels of chakra as noted by Kiba and thus is able to use many chakra-taxing sand-based techniques, sometimes in quick succession, before becoming exhausted. The amount of sand he can control at one time is immense: he could use a massive amount of sand to fully transform into Shukaku, as well as create a tsunami of sand to fight Kimimaro. In Part II he is able to gather enough sand to shield the entire village of Sunagakure from Deidara's C3, as well as assist in stopping a giant meteorite, albeit, at great physical exertion. If sand is lacking in abundance, Gaara can break down the earth minerals in the ground to create more sand. While he can control any dry sand, ordinary sand requires more chakra to manipulate, tiring him at a rapid rate. As a result, Gaara keeps his own chakra-infused sand with him at all times, in a calabash gourd also made out of sand on his back. Because this sand is already infused with his chakra, Gaara has a great deal more control over it, enabling stronger and faster attacks with it.

During battle, Gaara rarely moves, attacking with his sand from a single location, and rarely uses taijutsu. When first introduced, his basic means of attacks is to first use Sand Binding Coffin to capture, immobilise, and potentially suffocate an opponent with sand. Once the opponent is subdued, he uses Sand Waterfall Funeral to cause the sand to implode crush the opponent with varying intensities. Though he comes up with other means of attack throughout the series, the "catch and crush" tactic remains at the centre of his fighting style. Gaara attempted to use it four times on Kimimaro, but Kimimaro's sturdy bone structure made him a frustrating target.

Gaara using his Successive Shots: Sand Drizzle. As the second element of his combat style, Gaara has a number of sand-based defences to be used in case an opponent gets too close. His primary defence is his Shield of Sand, an automatic sand shield that surrounds and protects him from damage whether he wants it to or not. Gaara can control the shield to some degree, strengthening it to steel-like quality or calling upon it to completely encase himself. While an effective defence, the shield can be overcome with high-speed attacks, or simply be broken through with incredibly forceful strikes. Should this happen, Gaara has a layer of sand covering his body called the Armour of Sand. Although it's a useful secondary defence, the armour requires large amounts of chakra to remain active, and also has the side-effect of weighting Gaara down. Despite this, the defences offered by his sand are so powerful, they have been named the "Absolute Defence" (絶対防御, Zettai Bōgyo). During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Gaara's Absolute Defence was so great, Naruto expressed belief that Gaara retain the best defence of anyone.[24] Furthermore, Gaara can crush the hardest minerals in the ground together to create a shield in shape of Shukaku's body or, in the anime, a spear in the shape of its arm for combat.

Gaara using his Shield of Shukaku technique. Added by DroidkajuIn addition to these basic methods of offence and defence, Gaara also has a number of miscellaneous techniques that, while capable of being used as attacks or defences of sorts, are not limited to such purposes. By making a sand clone of himself, Gaara can have an ally to be used in battle, or as a mere distraction to be used to buy him time. Unlike most other clone techniques in the series, the Sand Clone can retain its shape after more than one attack, and can even reform itself or capture an opponent upon being dispersed. With Desert Suspension, Gaara can use sand as a platform, to allow himself and others to float in the air. His Third Eye also allows him to create a floating eyeball of sand in any location, which he can see through as a means of spying, or to guide his attacks while completely enclosed by his defences. He also claimed that he can ride his sand to reach the Island Turtle, and would have been faster than if Ōnoki went there. His sand can also be used as sensing device: Gaara can detect when others come into contact with it, even from far away. The sensing of his sand is so great, it was able to find Mū on several occasions, as well as the Giant Clam.

Gaara's mother is the source of his sand shield. Added by Blackstar1Despite the removal of Shukaku, Gaara can still use his sand like before. According to Sasuke at the Kage Summit, Gaara's Absolute Defence is still alive and well. Not only that, but the sand has also massively improved in speed, defence, and offence since the last time they met as it was not only able to protect him and others from a cave-in, but also block A, block Amaterasu several times without being burned through or into — a feat that impressed Sasuke Uchiha, as well as block Madara Uchiha's complete Susanoo's sword and still protect him even when it was barraged by four others right afterwards. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Gaara's sand powers were so strong that his father believed he had fully transformed into Shukaku and was later surprised to see that was not the case. Gaara was able to quickly manoeuvre his sand above his father's Gold Dust, despite its superior weight. Gaara was also able to use sand to stop an enormous meteorite. He is able to manipulate the sand even when it's saturated with water. He can even block powerful explosions the instant they explode despite the enormous power these techniques held, protecting his village and the division respectively. He was able to integrate gold dust, a feat previously only useable by his father, into his sand so that he can use the former - noting that gold was approximately twenty times heavier than water- in order to counter the Steaming Danger Tyranny clone.

It was unknown at first whether or not Gaara's sand defence was still automatic as it was believed that Shukaku was the source of the defence. However, the Fourth Kazekage states that Gaara's mother, Karura, was the true source of the defence, as she truly did love him and vowed to always protect him.

Gaara's Jinchūriki Forms
Gaara partially transformed into Shukaku. Gaara was able to take on the form of Shukaku by layering sand on his body, making him many times more powerful than he already is. Shukaku's personality grew more dominant during this transformation, increasing Gaara's homicidal tendencies. Once finished, Gaara assumed a human-sized version of Shukaku, wherein he relied on his brute strength to destroy everything around him.

If need be, Gaara could almost instantly create a life-sized version of Shukaku, should the human-sized form fail. In this form, he remained deep within the copy of Shukaku, safe from harm, though unable to move. When in need of Shukaku's full power, Gaara would use his Feigning Sleep Technique, which forced him to sleep, and allowed Shukaku to take full control. To do so, however, Gaara must emerge from within the copy, leaving him open to attack for the duration of the technique.

Over time, he began gaining better control over Shukaku, such that he could suppress its personality by himself towards the end of the anime's pre-Shippūden filler arcs. By the time Part II began, Gaara was even capable of using Shukaku's arms to attack numerous times, without losing control of himself. However, this could have merely been his improved control over sand in action.

In the Times of Anime, Gaara created a Life Size Yamata No Orochi and bear the abilities as the 8 Headed Serpent did.

Other Skills
Though he almost never uses taijutsu as a fighting element, Gaara has displayed incredible reaction speed against regular users of taijutsu as he was able to instantly react at a moments notice to Rock Lee closing his eyes and completely escape from his high-level taijutsu attacks while having enough precision to position himself directly behind Lee. Gaara has also shown some measure of physical strength, even without transforming into Shukaku as he was able to easily repel Temari with a single punch, despite being wounded. In the anime, Gaara showed to be strong enough pick himself up without aid after having his Armour of Sand soaked through with water, which had made it as heavy as land.

He has also shown to be a skilled teacher in the anime, teaching Matsuri how to use the jōhyō when he learned she was afraid of weapons. In Part II, Gaara has also shown to be a highly analytical and very skilled tactician. This is proven when he was able to defeat the Second Mizukage by formulating a way to counter the Mizukage's exploding clone.

Like many Suna shinobi, Gaara is skilled with the Sealing Tag, using his sand in place of cloth. He has also shown the ability to use Wind Release nature transformation, though this was only seen during his Shukaku transformations. Whether he is able to use this nature transformation on his own or it stems from Shukaku, is currently unknown.

Part I Chūnin Exam Arc
Gaara participated in the Chūnin Exams, where he quickly identified as a skilled competitor. During the first test which was set to garner how well the candidates could covertly gather information, Gaara blinded a candidate with his sand and then used his Third Eye to copy his answers. Ibiki remarked that through this all, Gaara kept a calm demeanour and gave away no indication that he was cheating. During the second phase of the examinations, he demonstrated his blood-lust, coldly murdering Team Shigure in the Forest of Death, who Gaara claimed had looked at him the wrong way, and threatened to kill his own siblings when they tried to reason with him. Gaara and his team finished this phase in an hour and thirty-seven minutes, beating the previous record by over four hours, with Gaara not getting so much as a speck of dust on his clothes — a feat they noted that would be very difficult even for an experienced ninja.

Gaara caught in Lee's Front Lotus. Added by HakinuIn the preliminary matches, Gaara was matched against Rock Lee and overwhelmed him until Lee removed the weights on ankles to move at a formidable speed that forces Gaara to exchange his Shield of Sand to his secondary Armour of Sand. Despite Lee's best efforts, Gaara's sand ultimately protected him from Lee's devastating blow as he taken advantage of his opponent's weakened condition to crush Lee's left limbs with his sand. Might Guy intervened before Gaara could harm Lee any further, the act astonished Gaara who is left more confused when Guy answered that Lee is his precious comrade.

For the finals, Gaara was matched against Sasuke Uchiha. The night before, he was approached by Dosu Kinuta, who wanted to take his spot by eliminating him, but was killed by Shukaku's power. Some time after that, Gaara tried to kill the hospitalised Lee but was stopped by Naruto Uzumaki and Shikamaru Nara, who were successful in halting his intentions until Might Guy intervened once again.

Gaara battling Sasuke. Gaara brutally killed Shiba and Midori when they tried to intimidate him to throw the fight for a bet. When fighting Sasuke, he realised that his taijutsu skills were similar to those of his previous opponent and as such he was having hard time keeping up with him. Disregarding the plan that the Suna-nin had made, Gaara attempts to transform into Shukaku. However, Gaara was wounded by Sasuke's Chidori, which had pierced his sand sphere, causing him to freak out at the first sight of his own blood. With Gaara not in any mental condition to join the battle, he and his siblings fled the village under Baki's orders, while the invasion proceeded without them.

Invasion of Konoha Arc Edit Gaara was pursued by the members of Team 7, along with Shikamaru and Shino Aburame, which forced Gaara's siblings to stay behind at different points to hold off their pursuers. Sasuke caught up with a maddened Gaara who begins transforming. Transforming half-way, Gaara is able to resist Sasuke's last available Chidori attacks, allowing him to beat Sasuke to an inch of his life before Naruto and Sakura Haruno arrive. The act of Sakura coming to Sasuke's aid causes Gaara to relive his betrayed childhood before he pinned her to a tree with his sand. Intrigued by Naruto's abilities since witnessing his victory over Neji Hyūga during the exams, Gaara threatens to crush Sakura to force Naruto to fight.

Although terrified, stayed to fight against him to protect his friends. Though Gaara seemed to have the upper hand, Naruto attacked the lower base of his tail, using his rendition of One Thousand Years of Death to get an advantage to bypass Gaara's defence. After being beaten down by Naruto's army of shadow clones, an enraged Gaara assumes the full form of Shukaku while Naruto summons Gamabunta.

Gaara is defeated by Honey D. Paul. After Gamabunta shows his strength, Gaara then emerged and used the Feigning Sleep Technique to let Shukaku take full control in the battle. Devising a strategy to combat the beast, Gamabunta and Naruto used the Combination Transformation technique to transform into a giant fox (the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox in the anime) so he could cling onto the One-Tail to give Naruto the chance to wake Gaara up. Awakened, Gaara trapped Naruto but the latter used some of the Nine-Tails' chakra to break free, then headbutted Gaara, which caused the Shukaku's body to crumble.

With the last of their energy, the two exchanged final blows, and Naruto ended up claiming victory. Gaara was shocked to learn that Naruto was a jinchūriki like himself yet puzzled by the boy's undying devotion to his friends, causing him to realise that Naruto's strength came from the desire to protect those close to him. As Gaara and his siblings fled the scene, Gaara openly apologised to Kankurō and Temari to their astonishment. Thanks to Naruto's influence, the defeat proved to be a major turning point for Gaara.

Sasuke Retrieval Arc
Gaara deflecting Kimimaro's attack. Added by DroidkajuThe Sand Siblings were called by the Fifth Hokage to assist the Sasuke Retrieval Team in retrieving Sasuke when he defected from Konoha. Gaara arrived just in time to save Rock Lee, using his sand to deflect Kimimaro's attack. Though Lee tried to continue, Gaara stopped him, telling Lee that he was still in no condition to fight. In the fight, Gaara's various abilities prove to be ineffective against Kimimaro's sturdy bone structure which protected him from most of the would-be devastating attack. After Kimimaro released the second state of his Cursed Seal of Earth to break through his defences while lowering his chakra further, denouncing Orochimaru to get an advantage, Gaara buried Kimimaro deep underground. However, Kimimaro escaped with a weakened Gaara barely evading death due to Kimimaro's own death by his illness. After the battle, Gaara explained that even a bad person has someone precious to them, and noted to Lee their opponent was like Naruto in that sense before escorting Lee back to Konoha. After this, Gaara and the rest of the Sand Siblings returned to Sunagakure, though in the anime, he and his siblings helped out at the village's Academy before leaving, as stated by Shikamaru.

Ultimate Weapon Arc
The Sand Siblings would later appear when they became teachers at a Konoha-style ninja academy at Sunagakure. As an instructor, Gaara took on the only student who was willing to train under him, Matsuri. Because of Matsuri's fear of weapons, Gaara trained her to use a jōhyō, a relatively non-lethal weapon. When a group of people called the Four Celestial Symbols Men kidnapped her in order to get to Gaara, Sunagakure then called for aid from the Konoha 11 to repay their help during the Sasuke Retrieval Arc.

Celestial Symbols Men leader, Hōki, but was captured. Naruto tried desperately to save Gaara, though nothing would work. To escape, Gaara did a partial Shukaku transformation, reviving the Takumi Village's ultimate weapon, Seimei. Gaara stopped the transformation and later destroyed Seimei's armour with Ultimately Hard Absolute Attack: Spear of Shukaku, and killed him with a Sand Waterfall Imperial Funeral.

After this, Gaara rested in the Konoha hospital, and overheard Naruto's conversation with Jiraiya. Gaara and the rest of the siblings, including Matsuri, left Konohagakure.