Gaara (我愛羅, Gaara) is a shinobi of Sunagakure. Shukaku was sealed into his body on the day he was born, a procedure that resulted in his mother's death. Regarded as a monster by the village and with nobody to love him, Gaara came to despise the world and began relying only on his own strength as Gaara of the Sand Waterfall (砂瀑の我愛羅, Sabaku no Gaara; English TV "Gaara of the Desert"). This power of self-love is later defeated by Naruto Uzumaki's unwavering dedication to his friends. From that point forward, Gaara begins emulating Naruto's method and changes Suna's opinions of him. He eventually become the village's FifthKazekage (五代目風影, Godaime Kazekage; Literally meaning "Fifth Wind Shadow"), a position he maintains even after Shukaku is removed from his body by Akatsuki.Read more ^^
Background of Gaara
Gaara is the third, and youngest child of the Fourth Kazekage andKarura, also the younger brother ofTemari and Kankurō. Prior to Gaara's birth, his father had Chiyoseal Shukaku within him, in the hopes that he 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.[5][6] Gaara was born premature and was therefore an unusually small and frail infant. Before she died, Karura passionately held her son, vowing to always protect him.[7] Gaara was trained in ninjutsu by his father, but raised mainly by his maternal uncle, Yashamaru.
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 realised whom he had attacked.[8]
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.[8] He also revealed that he had 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) as a sign of her intense hatred for Suna rather than her love for Gaara. In a last-ditch effort to kill Gaara, Yashamaru detonated a number of explosive tags covering his body, asking his nephew to "please die". Using his sand, Gaara managed to survive the blast, but he lost the only person he had thought cared for him, not knowing the truth behind Yashamaru's actions. Gaara then used his sand to etch the kanji for love (愛, ai) onto the left side of his forehead.[9][10] Overwhelmed, Gaara lost control and transformed into Shukaku, and rampaged around the village before his father managed to stop him using his Gold Dust.[11]
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 unabel to cope with the loss of his mother's affection, the Kazekage deemed him a failure and arranged several assassination attempts on his son, which only made Gaara detest his father more.[12] In time, Gaara's new ideology allowed better control over Shukaku. Appreciating this, his father cancelled all assassination orders, and revived the idea of someday using Gaara as the ultimate weapon for the village.
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 pale blue-green eyes.[16] Gaara has no distinctive pupils or eyebrows. 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.[17]
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 grey, 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.
In 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 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 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'sflak jacket to his standard outfit.
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Abilities
Gaara is an extremely powerful shinobi, so much that he was made Kazekage by the time he was 15,[3] and later during the Fourth Shinobi World War, he was appointed the Regimental Commander, and leader of the Allied Shinobi Forces's Fourth Division.[18] 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",[19] and his father who acknowledged that he had surpassed him in more ways than he could have hoped for.[20] 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.[21] Even though he had lost his tailed beast Shukaku, he was still powerful enough to remain Kazekage. Another testament to Gaara's power at his young age is that he could hold his own against five of Madara Uchiha's Susanoo-clad wood clones for a long period of time.[22]
Born as the former jinchūriki, Gaara gained Shukaku's immense reserves of chakra and stamina. In addition, his chakra was noted to be very strong as noted by Kiba and thus is able to use many chakra-taxing sand-based techniques, sometimes in quick succession, before becoming exhausted. Inspite of the removal of Shukaku from inside him, Gaara's chakra reserves and strength remained just as powerful.
Sand Control
As a host of Shukaku, Gaara possesses the ability to freely manipulate sand to serve various purposes. The focus of his fighting style, Gaara's control and cunning in using this ability is formidable, able to control immense amounts one time for feats such as fully transforming into Shukaku and create a tsunami of sand to fight four reincarnated Kage. During battle, Gaara rarely moves, attacking with his sand from a single location, and rarely uses taijutsu. His most basic attack method is to first capture and immobolise his target, and then implode the sand to crush the target. Taking advantage of the mallaeble nature of sand, Gaara has come up with various "catch and crush" tactics. As the second element of his combat style, Gaara has various sand-defences should opponents gets too close. His primary defence is his Shield of Sand, forms a barrier to surround and protect Gaara on its own. While automatic, Gaara can control its strength-level to steel-like quality or make it completely encase himself. While an effective defence, the shield can be overcome with high-speed attacks or simple enough sheer force.[23] Should this happen, Gaara has a secondary layer of sand covering him called the Armour of Sand. Although useful, the armour requires large amounts of chakra to remain active, and also has the side-effect of weighting Gaara down.[24]The defences offered by his sand are so powerful, they have been named the "Absolute Defence" (絶対防御,Zettai Bōgyo).[25] It is unknown whether or not Gaara's automatic sand defence was ever truly Shukaku's doing as according to the Fourth Kazekage, Gaara's mother, Karura, was the true source she loved him and vowed to always protect him.[26]
In addition to these basic methods of offence and defence, Gaara also has a number of miscellaneous techniques. By making a sand clone of himself, Gaara can have an ally to be used in battle. Unlike most clone techniques in the series, the sand clone can retain its shape after being hit, able to reform itself or capture an opponent upon being dispersed. With his Desert Suspension, Gaara can use sand as a platform, to allow himself and others to float in the air. He can also ride his sand faster than Ōnoki can fly to a location. His Third Eye allows him to create a floating eyeball of sand in any location, which he can see through as a means of spying or guide his attacks while his sight is obstructed. 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 repeatedly find the disappearing Mū and the Second Mizukage's Giant Clam.
In Part II Gaara's prowess can gather enough sand to shield the entire village of Sunagakure from Deidara's C3, as well as assist in stopping a giant meteorite. If sand is lacking in abundance, Gaara can break down the earth minerals in the ground to create more sand.[27] He is able to manipulate the sand even when it's saturated with water.[28] While he can control normal sand, it 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, which also gives Gaara a greater attack-rate. Furthermore, Gaara can crush the hardest minerals in the ground together to create a shieldin shape of Shukaku's body or, in the anime, a spear in the shape of its arm for combat. He was able to integrate gold dust, a feat previously only usable by his father, into his sand.[29]
Despite 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, as well as its previous speed and sheer attack power as it protected Gaara and others from a cave-in,[30], block the attacks of A and Amaterasu(without being burned from the latter).[31] During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Naruto expressed belief that Gaara retained the best defence of anyone,[32] later able to block a barrage of strikes from Madara Uchiha's complete Susanoo's sword. 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.[33] and stop an enormousmeteorite. Gaara's sand is also seemingly the only ninjutsu-based substance that cannot be absorbed.[34][35] He can even block powerful explosions the instant they explode despite their enormous power, protecting his village and the division respectively.[36][37]
Gaara has also displayed some collaboration techniques with Shukaku. After using Shukaku's Wind Release, Gaara can also insert his sand into an opponent's body, and use it to control and restrict their movement. Pooling their powers, Gaara and Shukaku can use a juinjutsu empowered seal, which required a senjutsu-bearing Madara Uchiha to use complete Susanoo in order to escape.
Jinchūriki Transformations
Main article: Jinchūriki Forms
In desperate situations, 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.
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. He has also shown considerable stealth skill and proficiency in the Body Flicker Technique, able to sneak up on Sasuke during their first encounter without the Uchiha noticing. 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.[38]
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 while he transformed into Shukaku.
Personality
Gaara was once a kind child who, despite their fear of him, tried desperately to be friendly towards others. His uncle's actions twisted his personality. Misled into believing nobody cared for him, Gaara used his sand to create the kanji on his forehead for "love" (愛, ai), as a symbol of his resolution to be a "demon loving only itself", and to live up to the name his mother gave him. Gaara became emotionally withdrawn and strangely silent, as he was consumed with 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 extention, anyone who posed a threat to his existence. This was only worsened by Shukaku's occasional demand for blood to satisfy the demon's bloodlust, resulting in Gaara's remorseless and sociopathic nature, demonstrated when he murderedBaiu and Midare, despite their pleas for mercy. Furthermore, Gaara suffered from insomnia as a result of Shukaku's inhabitation of his body. The disorder forced fear upon Gaara; if he were to fall asleep, the demon within him would eat away at his soul. Gaara's instability and desire to kill were only heightened as a result. Gaara's hatred for the Kazekage was justly founded in his father's 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 protective sand activating at any time Gaara was close to injury, he never saw his own blood until Sasuke Uchiha pierced his sand shield and wounded him. Gaara had a severe mental breakdown as a result.[13]
Gaara's childhood was a parallel to Naruto Uzumaki's in many ways. Both were unbearably lonely and longed to be liked, loved and acknowledged as individuals as a result of being jinchūriki — they were human beings, not the demons they had been forced to contain — and were driven to separate states of depression and desperation. While Naruto consequently developed the misconception that pranks and mischief would bring him the attention he craved, 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, Gaara could compensate by valuing only himself to the exclusion of every other person. Furthermore, while Naruto eventually had Iruka Umino andTeam Kakashi to comfort him, Gaara never bothered to make emotional bonds, not even with his father or siblings, as they too despised and feared Shukaku. The person who grew the closest to acknowledging him was Yashamaru, but when Yashamaru was ordered to betray him, Gaara was transformed into a lonely sociopath. As such, Gaara couldn't understand fighting for anything but himself until his confrontation with Naruto during the Chūnin Exams.
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 had never lost his ambition to be recognised 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. Realising 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. Over the next few years, Gaara's resolve to find happiness caused him to rely on his own power rather than that of the demon. Gaara eventually formed a close friendship with Naruto, viewing the Kohoha ninja as his first true friend, and became very loyal to his decisions, and protective over him as a companion. Gaara also came to view meeting Naruto as the greatest event of his life and believed any price, even the painful life of a jinchūriki was worth the experience. Gaara even forgave Shukaku for his miserable childhood, claiming that it was only because of such a life that he was able to meet Naruto.
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.[14][15]
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 takes 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.
Source : http://naruto.wikia.com
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