GAARA'S PERSONALITY

GAARA of THE DESSERT'S PERSONALITY-

While Gaara had initially tried to be friendly
towards others, despite their fear of him, Yashamaru's actions and words changed him. Realising that nobody loved him, Gaara used his
sand to create the kanji on his forehead "love" (愛, ai), as a symbol of a "demon loving only himself",
and to live up to his name, as Karura intended. Gaara became emotionally withdrawn, all but
silent, and consumed with a bitter loathing for
everyone but himself and "Mother": the voice of
Shukaku in his head. He learned to find pleasure,
and eventually a reason to live, in annihilating the
numerous assassins sent to kill him – and, by extension, anyone who threatened his existence.
This was only worsened by the occasional
demand by Shukaku for blood to sate its blood
lust, which resulted in Gaara being merciless,
demonstrated when he murdered Baiu and Midare while ignoring their pleas. Gaara's insomnia, forced upon him by the fear
that the demon inside him would eat away at
him if he were to fall asleep, only furthered his
instability and desire to kill. In fact, his hatred
extends to his siblings, as he never saw them as
such, and was fully willing to kill them were they to cross him. In time, Gaara's father would come
to appreciate Gaara and the uses he could serve,
and cancelled all assassination orders in the
hopes that Gaara would become an effective tool.

Gaara's childhood was, in many ways, similar to Naruto Uzumaki's, though more unfortunate due to his lack of anyone to call a friend. Both were
lonely and desired to be liked, loved, and
acknowledged as an individual, free of others'
prejudices — they were themselves, not the demons they were forced to "contain" — and both were driven into a desperate state. 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 an extreme form of existentialism as his key personality trait. In the absence of others' acknowledgement, he could
compensate by valuing only himself to the
exclusion of everyone else. Furthermore, while
Naruto eventually had Iruka Umino and Team Kakashi to acknowledge him, Gaara never had anyone to bond with, not even his father or
siblings, as they all despised and feared Shukaku
that dwells within him. The person who was
closest to being friendly with Gaara was the
deceitful Yashamaru, who ultimately betrayed
him, which turned Gaara into a lonely sociopath. As such, Gaara did not understand the concept of
fighting for anything other than himself until his
confrontation with Naruto.

After being defeated by Naruto, Gaara was
shocked to find that Naruto knew very well the
pain that Gaara had endured all his life. He was
even more surprised that Naruto never gave up
hope on being acknowledged as a person and
ultimately found friends who truly cared for him. Seeing the determination that Naruto had to
protect his friends made Gaara question his own
path in life. Realising that he gave up too easily,
Gaara decided to follow Naruto's path, wishing to
become Kazekage of Sunagakure so he could be
connected to his people, and hopefully have them finally acknowledge his existence as a person.
Over the next few years, Gaara's determination
to find happiness became apparent from his
decision to rely on his own power rather than
his inner demon's. Gaara eventually formed a
close friendship with Naruto. Since Gaara has become a close companion to
Naruto, he has been able to change people's
personalities towards him, such as Matsuri overpowering her fear of weapons, Ōnoki in the Five Kage Summit, persuaded practically the
whole shinobi nation as a team before the war,
and even Naruto himself when reflecting upon
what he will choose to do as Sasuke's friend. This
seems to be a similar trait from Naruto, a way of
showing how he has changed from before.

Although he remained ruthless against his
opponents, Gaara appears 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 appears to deeply understand 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 a "ridiculous old-fashioned thinking" and that
cooperation between the villages is fundamental in order to defeat Akatsuki .