Gaara

Gaara (我愛羅) is a shinobi of Sunagakure. The One Tailed 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). This power of self love is later defeated by Uzumaki Naruto's unwavering dedication to his friends. Gaara then begins following Naruto's method, and changes Suna's opinions of him. He later became the Fifth Kazekage (五代目風影). A position he maintains even after Shukaku is removed from his body by the Akatsuki.

Background
Gaara is the third, and youngest child of Rasa and Karura. He is also the younger brother of Temari and Kankuro. Prior to Gaara's birth, his father had Chiyo seal 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. 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. 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 lied to Gaara saying 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.

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. 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. Overwhelmed, Gaara lost control and transformed into Shukaku, and rampaged around the village before his father managed to stop him using his Gold Dust.

In the anime, after his first rampage as Shukaku in Sunagakure, Gaara returned home to eat dinner with his siblings. When Kankuro confronted him and asked him whether or not if he felt remorse for killing his fellow villagers. Gaara angrily silenced him by threatening to kill him, then Temari pulled Kankuro away from trying to harm their younger brother.

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. 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.

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 murdered Baiu 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 pierced his sand shield and wounded him. Gaara had a severe mental breakdown as a result.

Gaara's childhood was a parallel to Uzumaki Naruto's in many ways. Both were unbearably lonely and longed to be liked, loved and acknowledged as individuals as a result of being jinchuriki — 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 Umino Iruka and Team 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 Chunin 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 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. 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 jinchuriki 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 Onoki 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. His love for his family was also extended in his Infinite Tsukuyomi dream as Gaara dreamed of having all his family together, and happy while having Naruto as his childhood friend.

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". His locality to Naruto is shown during the climax of the Fourth Shinobi War, when Yang Kurama was extracted from of Naruto, and Gaara took his still alive unconscious friend to the latter's reincarnated late father, Namikaze Minato, in order to have Yin Kurama be sealed inside of Naruto. The plan was successful, and once Naruto regain consciousness. Gaara told him that when he becomes Hokage that they can share a cup of Sake together, in which Naruto happily agree.

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 Uchiha 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.

Years later, Gaara is shown to be more cheerful and laidback, talking very kindly to his family even when his nephew failed to address him with an honourific, though he still retains his composure. He has also adopted a more direct personality as he immediately told the other Kage to cut any idle chit chat once Naruto arrived late to the meeting.

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. 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.

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-Shippuuden 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's flak jacket to his standard outfit.

Two years after the Fourth Shinobi War, a now adult Gaara dons a crimson long-sleeve shirt with several buttons and pants that match the colour of his shirt. He also wears a brown belt and a now has a smaller sand gourd which is strapped to his left side. Years later after the Fourth Shinobi War, Gaara's hair became flat and neatly combed to his right temple.

Abilities
Ever since childhood, Gaara was hailed as a very powerful shinobi, being able to easily defeat his uncle Yashamaru, successfully complete a B-Rank mission while only a genin, and even become Kazekage at age 15. Deidara, a powerful member of Akatsuki, praised Gaara's power after capturing him, losing an arm to Gaara's attack in the process. Despite losing Shukaku, Gaara was still strong enough to remain Kazekage and even be appointed the Regimental Commander as well as leader of the Fourth Division of the Allied Shinobi Forces during the Fourth Shinobi War. His power and status have now become well-respected and praised by the entire Allied Shinobi Forces, including both past and present Kage. Likewise, Gaara was shown able to defeat both his father and Hozuki Gengetsu, the Fourth Kazekage and Second Mizukage respectively, while earning praise from both of them. Gaara could also hold his own against five of Madara's Susanoo-clad wood clones for a long period of time.

Chakra
Born as a jinchuriki, Gaara gained Shukaku's immense reserves of chakra and stamina. His chakra was also noted by Inuzuka Kiba to be very strong. Thus, he is able to use many chakra-taxing sand-based techniques, sometimes in quick succession, before becoming exhausted. Despite the removal of Shukaku from inside him, Gaara's chakra reserves and strength remained just as powerful, as he was the only one of the Five Kage to show no signs of low chakra reserves throughout the entire Fourth Shinobi War, even after using his large-scale techniques.

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.

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. The defences offered by his sand are so powerful, they have been named the "Absolute Defence" (絶対防御). It is unknown whether or not Gaara's authomatic sand defence was ever truly Shukaku's doing as both the Fourth Kazekage and Yashamaru have stated that Gaara's mother, Karura, was its true source, as she loved him and vowed to always protect him.

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 Mu 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. He is able to manipulate the sand even when it's saturated with water.

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 shield in 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.

Despite the removal of Shukaku, Gaara can still use his sand like before. According to Sasuke at the Five 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, block the attacks of A and Amaterasu (without being burned from the latter).

During the Fourth Shinobi War, Naruto expressed belief that Gaara retained the best defence of anyone, 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. and stop an enormous meteorite. Gaara's sand is also seemingly the only ninjutsu-based substance that cannot be absorbed. He can even block powerful explosions the instant they explode despite their enormous power, protecting his village and the division respectively.

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.

Two years after the war, Gaara's power had increased greatly, being able to defend his entire village from massive meteorites that had broken off from the falling Moon, without expending any effort- creating multiple shields which kept Suna safe.

Jinchuriki Transformations
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-Shippuuden 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.

Nature Transformation
Gaara can use Wind Release, Lightning Release and Earth Release nature transformations.[42] He could mix his wind chakra with his sand techniques to increase their defense, power and speed.

Taijutsu
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. In the anime, upon becoming Kazekage, Gaara was given extensive training in taijutsu from the specialist Shira, ultimately being able to fight on par with the instructor and even send him flying with a simple kick.

Other Skills
He has also shown to be a skilled teacher in the anime, teaching Matsuri how to use the johyo 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.

Chunin Exam arc
Gaara participated in the Chunin 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.

In 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. Gai 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 Uchiha Sasuke. 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 Uzumaki Naruto and [[Nara Shikamaru], who were successful in halting his intentions until Gai intervened once again.

Prior to his battle with 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
Gaara was pursued by the members of Team 7, along with Shikamaru and Aburame Shino, 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 Haruno Sakura 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 Hyuga Neji during the finals of the Chunin Exam, Gaara threatens to crush Sakura to force Naruto to fight.

Naruto, though 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.

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 jinchuriki 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 Kankuro and Temari to their astonishment. Thanks to Naruto's influence, the defeat proved to be a major turning point for Gaara.

Sasuke Retrieval arc
The 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 Ninja Academy before leaving, as stated by Shikamaru.

Pre Shippuuden Filler arc
Meanwhile, Sakura, Shikamaru and Naruto discussed the status report from Temari saying that she and her brothers are going to become involved in their village's new shinobi training program.

In Sunagakure, the three siblings were shown leading a combat training class. One of the students, a shy, quiet girl named Matsuri, was reluctant to use something that could hurt someone else, so Gaara taught her to use a defensive weapon, the Rope Javelin. They became friends.

After word reached Konoha that Gaara and his team needed help against a group of ninja called the Four Celestial Symbols Men from the Takumi Village who kidnapped Matsuri, Naruto joined the rest of the Konoha 11 (minus Tenten) under Shikamaru's command to help. Naruto was particularly glad he could finally pay Gaara back for helping them during Sasuke's defection. Quickly, Shikamaru formulated a strategy to best handle the situation and had Naruto pair up with Lee for main offensive assistance. The two arrived in time to save Gaara from Suiko, an opponent with chakra-absorbing armour after being struck by a Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique. After Gaara recovered with help from Sakura's medical Ninjutsu, he took over for Naruto and Lee to finish off Suiko. Afterwards, Gaara went on ahead. He stopped just before going into the canyon, and was shown to be worried about Matsuri. Naruto followed soon after.

Naruto arrived in time to see Gaara facing off against the leader of the Four Celestial Symbols Men, Hōki, now armed with all the unique weapons of his allies. Unfortunately, Gaara was still too exhausted to properly fight back. Naruto quickly went to help Gaara. After Hoki shouted his anger towards the Five Great Shinobi Countries for overlooking his village's greatness as weapon makers and vowing to destroy them, he trapped Gaara in a giant iron sphere which began absorbing the chakra of Shukaku, the one-tailed demon inside Gaara. Doing so slowly began to make Gaara transform into Shukaku. Hōki then used that chakra and himself as a sacrifice to perform a resurrection technique with the intent of reviving the Takumi Village founder, Seimei. Quickly after emerging, Seimei reconfigured the weapons of Hōki as armour for himself. Seimei then began siphoning off Shukaku's chakra, making Naruto repeatedly try to break Gaara free.

Eventually, Gaara's transformation process proved too great for the prison to handle. While Seimei was looking forward to facing Shukaku, Gaara was able to suppress Shukaku and revert to normal, amazing Naruto and everyone else who appeared. While everyone else didn't understand why Gaara wouldn't take advantage of Shukaku's power, Kankuro explained that Gaara was determined to rely on his own power from now on. Gaara then used his remaining chakra to turn some of the canyon around them into sand and crushed Seimei, finally ending the battle and saving Matsuri. As everyone rushed to help Gaara who fainted shortly afterwards, Kankurō noted to Naruto how he finally found someone who he can relate to.

Later while Naruto was recovering at the village, Jiraiya showed up. After explaining how he had spent the past few months gathering information about the Akatsuki, he told Naruto he was finally ready to train him for the next two years. It's reveal that Gaara eavesdropped on Naruto's conversation and learned about this because the two shared the same hospital room. After hearing it again from Shikamaru, Gaara's siblings and his student left for Sunagakure.

Two years after Naruto left Konoha to train with Jiraiya, Gaara was made Kazekage following his father's death by Orochimaru. Despite this, many in Sunagakure were uneasy with the decision, still fearing Gaara as a monster. Many even were still rebelling against this to the point of wanting kill the new Kazekage. Later, Tsunade made a request for Gaara to come to Konoha. Once Gaara arrived with his siblings, Tsunade and the Konoha Council discussed the idea of hosting a early Chunin Exam to help restore Konoha's reputation following the last exams being ruined by Orochimaru's attack on the village. Tsunade hoped the Suna would help support this idea and co-sponsor it. While it was acknowledged that much of Suna's improvements since the Fourth Kazekage's passing were thanks in part to Konoha, Kankuro quickly realized Tsunade had an additional goal. The Hokage explained that with their intel on the Akatsuki suggested that they would be making a move soon, she hoped this improvised exams would lure the enemy out.

Ultimately, Gaara agreed to Tsunade's idea for an early Chunin Exams, but insisted that exams be hosted in Suna. Ultimately, it was agreed to host the first exam in Konoha and the second exam in Suna. Later, while Kankuro voiced his displeasure at Gaara putting himself out in the open in such a way to promote himself as the new Kazekage, Gaara insisted he needed to deal not only with the Akatsuki, but also the violent naysayers in Suna. While Kankuro found this idea to be insane, Gaara insisted that, like Naruto, he was face these people and learn to connect with them.

Kankuro later reported to him of Tsunade's agreement of letting Suna be fully in charge of the second round. The day before the second exam would be held in Sunagakure, Kankuro revealed to Gaara of an attempted assassination on him last night. When Kankuro again pleaded for Gaara to listen to reason, the new Kazekage noted that not only would it make him as a leader look weak, it was at the Chunin Exams that his life truly changed and because of that he could not back down. The following day, Gaara oversaw as the second exams began.

Kazekage Rescue arc
Despite having become the Fifth Kazekage during the time skip, Gaara was still targeted by Akatsuki, who sought to extract Shukaku from within him. Gaara confronted and held his own against Deidara, crushing his left arm, and had him on the run for most of the battle, but his inevitable duty to protect Sunagakure was taken advantage of by Deidara, who dropped one of his most powerful bombs on the village. Gaara prevented any damage being inflicted by summoning a vast amount of sand which covered the entire village, albeit at the cost of practically all of his remaining chakra, which left him open for capture. After having his Shield of Sand destroyed, he moved the sand he used to protect Suna into the desert and passed out. Unconscious, he was taken to Akatsuki's hideout by Deidara.

Although Team Kakashi did their best to save Gaara, they did not arrive in time to stop Akatsuki's extraction of Shukaku, which resulted in Gaara's death. Uzumaki Naruto cried in front of him, regretting his inability to save both Sasuke and Gaara. He blamed the rest of the Suna-shinobi because it was on their behalf that Shukaku was sealed inside of Gaara in the first place, and because they let him feel so much pain as a child. However, Chiyo resurrected Gaara with the help of Naruto's chakra using her life-restoring technique, in the hopes that it would make up for her sealing of Shukaku into Gaara years earlier, and that Naruto and Gaara would both change the world, by bringing Gaara back to life at the cost of her own.

Gaara awoke, shocked by being surrounded by so many people who were all relieved that he was alive including Konoha-nin and the Sunagakure shinobi that had gone looking for him. This was the first time Gaara truly felt loved and not so alone. Gaara later ordered everyone to pray for Chiyo when they realised that she had passed away. Before Naruto went back home, he tried to say goodbye, but admitted that it wasn't something he was good at. Gaara used some sand to encourage and guide Naruto's hand, and the two shook hands, revealing that even with Shukaku removed, Gaara still retained his ability to control sand and went on to continue his work as Kazekage.

Konoha History arc
At Sunagakure, Gaara, Kankuro and Temari learn of Akatsuki's invasion of Konoha. Kankuro wonders if they'll be able to rebuild though Gaara knows they will since they have Naruto and has a flashback. Team 7 are sent on a mission to stop a group of bandits located between Konoha and Suna, resulting in the two villages working together for the first time since Suna's invasion though Naruto is reluctant about it. They meet with a team from Suna who are lead by Gaara, shocking Team 7. Gaara introduces his subordinates, Yaoki and Korobi who are scared of Gaara's sand abilities. Kakashi notices a change in Gaara, noticing he is mellower than he was before and no longer has his bloodthirsty lust.

Both Gaara and Kakashi decide to split up so they can simultaneously attack the bandit base from different sides located on mountain. But before they do, Gaara secretly informs Kakashi that he is being followed by another group from Suna and hopes he won't be a burden though Kakashi is completely fine with it as the more they overcome, the stronger both their village's bond will be. Hiding in the trees are a group of Suna ninja who plan on killing Gaara. When Gaara's team are heading to their direction, Gaara is ambushed by the group of ninja who uses techniques that prevents Gaara from using his sand. Gaara tells Yaoki and Korobi to flee as the ninja are only after him. Team 7 notice another group of Suna ninja who are watching them. When realising they aim to kill Gaara, Naruto runs off to find Gaara while the rest of Team 7 fight the assassination squad.

Naruto finds Yaoki and Korobi and learns Gaara is danger. He asks them why they abandoned their friend which leaves Yaoki and Korobi wondering if Gaara is their friend. Naruto rescues Gaara from the assassination squad with multiple shadow clones who fight them off with the help of Yaoki and Korobi who tell Gaara they're his friends. Gaara then easily takes out the rest of the ninja. Team 7 and Gaara's team continue and finish their mission and they bid each other farewell. After Team 7 leaves, Gaara asks Yaoki and Korobi what they said to him and they happily say they're his friends which brings a smile to Gaara. The flashback ends and Gaara thanks Naruto for helping him form his first bond with Konoha.

Five Kage Summit arc
Because of Akatsuki's increasing activity, the Fourth Raikage called for a Summit of the five Kage. Gaara, along with Temari and Kankurō as bodyguards, were the first of the Kage to arrive in the Land of Iron. When the other Kage arrived and the meeting started, Gaara declared that he would speak first. He indicated that because he was captured by Akatsuki and died when Shukaku was extracted from his body, he considered the organisation very dangerous. He added that he had previously requested collaboration between the villages against Akatsuki, but that only Tsunade of Konoha responded. During the meeting, he was heckled considerably by the Third Tsuchikage due to his young age, but was defended by the Fifth Mizukage.

When Sasuke was revealed to have infiltrated the meeting and the Raikage went to fight him, Gaara voiced his concern with the others' lack of ethics and stated that a world without faith and understanding would be a world with only fear. When the Tsuchikage offered to give him tips on how to be a good Kage, Gaara replied by asking him when he threw away his principles which only served to irritate the Tsuchikage. Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari then left to join the Raikage's battle with Sasuke. When they arrived, Gaara used his sand to stop the Raikage and Sasuke from fighting, insisting despite the Raikage's objections, that it was for the best. While the Raikage begrudgingly had his injuries tended to, Gaara tried to convince Sasuke to stop living in the darkness, citing past experience by saying no good would come of it. Sasuke could not be convinced, stating that he had closed his eyes to the light a long time ago.

Saddened by this, Gaara prepared to battle Sasuke himself. Sasuke attacked the Sand Siblings with Amaterasu, but Gaara's sand proved too fast for it, a feat which earned praise from Sasuke. Gaara then joined Kankurō, Temari, and Darui and launched a combined attack against Sasuke, who protected himself using Susanoo. Sasuke then cut down the supporting pillars of the hall which caused a cave-in to distract them; Gaara shielded the others from falling debris with his sand while Sasuke escaped. They followed him to the Summit hall, where they were met by Tobi. Tobi warped Sasuke away and told everyone in attendance about his Eye of the Moon Plan. Because Tobi concluded by requesting that the Kage give him Naruto and Killer B, Gaara refused, along with the other Kage. In response, Tobi declared the start of the Fourth Shinobi War. With this new development, Gaara repeated the need for collaboration.

The Kage agreed to a Shinobi Alliance, but would not allow Konoha to join unless someone more trustworthy than the current Hokage could be found from the village. Gaara suggested and volunteered to approach Hatake Kakashi on their behalf. Because they were Tobi's targets, Gaara also added that it was crucial not to allow Naruto and B to fight in the war, adding to A's statement about the latter that he would only make things more chaotic on the battlefield by saying Naruto would do the same.

After the Kage depart the Summit, Gaara and his siblings found Kakashi in a nearby inn, along with Naruto and Yamato. Gaara told them about the what happened at the Summit, Sasuke's actions, and about the impending war. Much of Gaara's effort was focused upon convincing Naruto about Sasuke, telling Naruto that he saw no redemption for him and had given up on him. He added that, if Naruto truly wanted to be Hokage, he had to realise when to do the right thing. Naruto remained silent, and Gaara and his siblings left him to reflect, and returned to Sunagakure. When they arrived there, they heard that the daimyo had approved the formation of the Shinobi Alliance.

Confining the Jinchuriki arc
To make preparations for the approaching conflict with Akatsuki, Gaara went to Kumogakure to meet with the other heads of the Alliance. He reiterated the need to send the Nine-Tails and Eight-Tails into hiding. When the Fifth Hokage — who had just recently awoken from her coma — objected to this, he reminded her that she must take others' views into consideration. She ultimately agreed to it and the jinchūriki were sent to the Island Turtle. When they learned that Akatsuki has discovered this hiding spot, it was decided to send the Tsuchikage as extra protection to the island. As the Tsuchikage left he dislocated his hip, which prompted Gaara to offer to go in his stead. The Tsuchikage went anyway, and when he returned. Gaara showed him the new Allied forehead protector that had been designed in his absence.

Fourth Shinobi War arc
Becoming both Regimental Commander of the primary fighting force and Commander of the Fourth Division, Gaara used his sand to break up a quarrel among Suna and Iwa shinobi. He explained to the joined forces that he himself was a product of the hatred between the villages yet his fellow jinchuriki, Uzumaki Naruto, bore no ill will towards him and others. At the end of the speech, everyone was united and all went out for battle to reach their assigned destinations. With the Fourth Division settled along a rocky terrain, Gaara surrounded their position with his sensory sand to detect any who approach. In doing so, he caught the reincarnated Mū and used his Third Eye to gather intel on the situation and learns that three other reincarnated Kage were with him, his father among them. This information is relayed to headquarters and Onoki is sent to provide assistance. When Onoki arrived Gaara told him that there was no reason for him to strain his back, and is in return told that his earlier words were the reason Onoki was picking up his principles again.

On the second day of the war, him and Onoki deciding to finally advance where they had been retreating for some time, Gaara attacked the Kage with a long-ranged attack, but the Fourth Kazekage counters it with his Gold Dust while realising his son is not using Shukaku. After he captured his father and the other previous generation of Kage with his sand arms, Gaara reveals to his father that he is no longer a jinchuriki and that he was now the Kazekage, now understanding his father's reasons and forgiving him. Shocked at how far Gaara had come, the Fourth decided to test his son's worth again by facing him directly. With Gaara getting the upper hand, his father tried to attack him from behind when Gaara's sand takes on the form of his mother, greatly shocking his father. The Fourth Kazekage then finally revealed the truth to Gaara: that his mother loved him, and that her dying words were to always protect him which became a reality through the sand.

Hearing that his mother truly loved him as well as the truth behind his uncle Yashamaru's actions before he died. Gaara was overcome with emotions as his father apologized for robbing his son of so much. Once the Fourth Kazekage is sealed, Gaara faces the battlefield with new determination, and sets out to aid Onoki in his fight with Mu before Naruto arrived with Gaara helping him defeat the Tsuchikage before sealing him.

After moving to a safe location at Ōnoki's request to get an explanation from Naruto, Gaara asked him if it was okay for him to be using the Nine-Tails' chakra so much to which Naruto retorted that he was going to be Hokage someday and until then, he would not die, so Gaara shouldn't treat him like a child. Soon after, Gaara and Onoki headed off to the area of battlefield where the Second Mizukage was. Though the Second began to rant about being a stronger opponent than Mu first, Gaara told him that he learned not to judge others by their appearance, and admits that the Second Mizukage was indeed strong. He later detected the Giant Clam with his sand and raised a platform that Onoki used to prepare his attack from. After Onoki's assault on the clam was successful and the mirage of the Mizukage that Gaara was speaking to vanished, Gaara immediately activated his Third Eye to locate them.

With Onoki's life seemingly in peril, the Second shot him, but it was revealed that Ōnoki was in fact a sand clone which began to restrain the Mizukage. The Second's Hydrification Technique activated immediately, but before he can free himself, Gaara used his Desert Layered Imperial Funeral technique which seemingly, successfully restrained him. Before the shinobi could rejoice however, a huge explosion occurred and the Second's face appeared above them in the sky. As Gaara watched in horror, he wondered whether it was another genjutsu. Ōnoki informed him that it was the technique that even Mū could do nothing about: the Steaming Danger Tyranny.

As a clone of the Mizukage emerged from the sky, Gaara tried attacking with his sand but the clone proved to be faster than Gaara had thought. Ōnoki explained the mechanism behind the Mizukage's technique, after which Gaara went after the Mizukage, whose position was given away by a sensor. Gaara trapped him with the Desert Layered Imperial Funeral technique again, but as he is applying sealing tags, they are ripped off by the clone. The Mizukage then told Gaara that he would not simply divulge any more details pertaining to the technique as he wanted Gaara to defeat him with his full power or else they'd have no chance at all when they went up against the leader of the opposing side. The Mizukage the lamented that he had found the "golden egg" amongst the current generation of Kage, but was having second thoughts on the matter.

As the clone attacked some of the shinobi and prepared to explode again, Gaara protected them with his sand. He tries to attack the clone but is once again out-done in speed, and the clone struck him only for it to be revealed to be another sand clone after which Gaara emerged from the ground and attacked again. This time, the sand was able to catch, and cover the clone. Inside the sand, it exploded again, but the blast is stifled. The sand breaks down, exposing his father's Gold Dust underneath, which Gaara hid in the sand clone. The gold had melted due to the heat generated by the clone and fused onto its body rendering it unable to move and harder to explode. The sand on the outer layer that had been drenched in the Mizukage's hail was cool enough to keep the clone from heating up. Greatly impressed by this, the Mizukage stated that he was a "golden egg" after all.

When Naruto's clone arrived on the battlefield, Gaara asked him how things went on his end and Naruto informed him that the Third Raikage had been sealed. Gaara then told him that he would finish up here as well and then informed Naruto that the pyramid was his technique when the latter mistook it for the enemy's body. After the Second Mizukage remarked to Gaara that he and Naruto made a good duo, Gaara smiled and wondered whether that was so as he finished sealing him. He then told a shinobi to report to headquarters and turned his attention to Naruto, asking him where his original was. The division was later alerted by a sensor that someone was coming and Gaara stares in shock as he sees Mu appear on a cliff above them. As the members of his division exclaimed that someone else was up there, who is revealed by Onoki to be Madara Uchiha, Gaara wondered what was going on, drawing their attention to Madara's eyes that gave away the fact that he was reincarnated. On this revelation the division stood in shock wondering just who the masked man that claimed to be Madara really was.

As a new battle commenced, Gaara attacked Madara, but he evaded it and jumped to the ground below. With this, Madara began his assault and proceeded to tear through the division's remaining forces. Gaara used his sand to catch Madara's arm, creating an opening for a Kumo shinobi to attack, but Madara easily countered. Naruto finally entered Sage Mode and Onoki lightened the sand in Gaara's gourd, which made it even faster and easier to manipulate. Gaara uses the sand to pull Madara out of his Susanoo, and into the flight-path of Naruto's Rasenshuriken. Their combo fails when Madara reveals his Rinnegan and uses the Preta Path to absorb the attacks. Madara then retreated to the top of a rock formation and summoned a huge meteorite, which shocked everyone present, and caused Gaara to wonder whether that was the power of a god.

As the meteorite plummeted towards them, Gaara told his troops to try and escape as far as they could while he remained behind, and attempted to help Onoki, who had flown towards the rock in order to lighten it. With their combined efforts, they were able to stop the meteorite, but when Madara sent another one crashing into it, they are unable to stop it. Predominantly unharmed, Gaara went to check on the Tsuchikage. As Ōnoki declared that he would fight Madara, Gaara moved to help an exhausted Naruto to his feet. As Onoki stumbled getting up, Gaara used his sand to support him, telling him that they would fight together. As Madara and Mū attacked, they are buffeted by Tsunade and A who arrived on the battlefield via the Heavenly Transfer Technique. Mei arrived soon afterwards via the Flying Thunder God Technique and Gaara stood with the other Kage, prepared to fight Madara.

A and Mei confronted Madara directly in order to buy some time for Tsunade to heal Gaara and Onoki. When Madara decided to test their defences, Gaara and Onoki worked together to build a double-layered shield of sand and rock to block his attack. Before Naruto's clone dispersed, having been told to leave things there to them, Gaara and the other Kage leave him with one message "win".

As the battle waged on, Gaara suspended everyone above Madara's technique. As Tsunade warned them not to inhale the pollen, Madara attacked Gaara and the other Kage from behind and knocked them into the forest below where they lose consciousness after inhaling the pollen. Regaining consciousness after Onoki destroyed the forest, the Kage watched in shock as the face formed from the DNA of the First Hokage juts out of the regenerating Madara's, exposed chest.

When Tsunade moved to the front-lines and the other Kage confronted Madara, Gaara wasted no time in the opportunity that was provided to seal Madara within his Desert Layered Imperial Funeral technique and applying sealing tags immediately after. Declaring that Madara was sealed, Gaara was shocked to see Tsunade impaled by a Susanoo Sword and then to see Madara emerging from one of the tree roots, and revealed that they had sealed a wood clone. After Madara noted that five-against-one was a good match-up, he created more wood clones, sending five of them at each Kage.

As Gaara battled five Susanoo-clad clones, he was able to save Mei from being skewered onto a sword of one of the clones she was battling. With his attentions elsewhere however, his own opponents took the opportunity to land a surprise attack which initially failed due to his automatic defence, but is buffeted by a combined assault from the clones. As Gaara agreed with Mei statement that Madara was too strong, Onoki spurred the other Kage to keep fighting on, reminding them that Naruto and the shinobi of the world had entrusted their titles and that battle to them. Motivated, Gaara relocated to the side of the other Kage in order to lure all the clone into gathering in one area as the Tsuchikage prepared a large-scale Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique which is successful in destroying the twenty-five clones and the real Madara partially. Launching their collaborative attack, Gaara's sand is revealed to be hidden inside A and Mei's lightning-infused Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique which he used to restrain Madara.

As Gaara started to seal Madara, the latter released his full Susanoo and destroyed the sand barricade before declaring to the Kage that even their power was futile against Susanoo's perfect form. Staring in shock as the humongous construct stabilised, Gaara and the other Kage are knocked off their feet by a single swing from the Susanoo's sword. After regaining their footing, Gaara and the others stood to face Madara once again. When Madara prepared to attack the Kage once again, Gaara stared in shock as Madara's Susanoo de-materialized and a light of sorts enveloped him. When Tsunade deflected Madara's desperate attempt to attack them one last time only to fall unconscious due to overusing her Strength of a Hundred Technique, Gaara and the rest of the Kage moved to protect her from Madara's follow-up attack as she fell through the air and listened on as Madara declared that he would break contractual ties from the summoner which would cause him to remain in the real world and retain all the benefits of the Impure World Reincarnation.

Despite their attempt to stop Madara from leaving their battlefield, Gaara and the other Kage were ultimately defeated and left severely wounded. Later, upon the arrival of Karin, Suigetsu and Orochimaru at the battlefield, Tsunade was healed by Karin. After being considerably healed, she in turn helped in healing Gaara and the other Kage. With no time to lose, the Kage decided to head back out to the battlefield immediately. Gaara suggested that they conserve their chakra by riding on his sand. They do so atop Gaara's sand. While closing in on the battlefield they noticed the Shinju in the distance and was informed by Katsuyu of what was happening. As they closed in, the reincarnated First Hokage telepathically contacted the Allied Shinobi Forces, explaining what he had learned during his fight with Madara. As Naruto's anger at the loss of the comrades he had fought so hard to protect grew, his emotions and memories were conveyed to everyone within range of Yamanaka Ino's technique. From these memories, Gaara sympathised with Naruto over the loss of Chiyo.

He later viewed Senju Hashirama's memories of the first ever Summit of the five Kage before arriving on the battlefield as Hashirama declared his wishes for the future of the world. Reiterating Onoki's words when they arrived on the battlefield that losing was not an option, Gaara and the other Kage dispersed across the battlefield in order to keep the shinobi's morale going. Thinking to himself that he and Naruto had finally achieved what they had hoped for all their lives when they were young — to be recognized and needed — Gaara ordered those around him to follow him as they prepared to attack.

After a critical hit is finally landed on Uchiha Obito, weakening the Uchiha's hold on the Ten-Tails, Naruto begins to use the chakra he gained from the other tailed beasts to forcibly remove the chakra inside Obito. While proving impossible for Naruto on his own as he has none of Shukaku nor Gyuki's chakra, Gaara and Killer B aided Naruto, with the Kazekage noting that because he was once Shukaku's host, he'd be able to handle the beast's chakra using his sand as a medium. He successfully pulls Shukaku from Obito, thus releasing the tailed beast fully. After its extraction, Gaara asks Shukaku for its aid in using a collossal version of Desert Layered Imperial Funeral to seal Madara. The beast initially refuses, stating that it is no longer bound to Gaara and has complete free will. After Gaara states that he can as easily ask another tailed beast for aid instead, and using this as an opportunity to surpass Kurama, Shukaku agrees to help the Kazekage. Son Goku and the other tailed beasts also join Gaara and Shukaku in aiding Naruto.

Gaara leads the tailed beasts to Madara, and they all prepare for battle as a revived Madara faces them, ready to hunt them down. Gaara and Shukaku collaborate effectively, using the Wind Release: Sand Scattering Bullets to injure Madara, who praises on the techniques formation yet its lack of power. Gaara answers however, by showing that the true purpose of the attack was to allow his sand to enter Madara's bloodstream, which allows Gaara to manipulate him from within. Binding Madara's movements fully, the tailed beasts uses this opening to attack Madara. Gaara then commands Shukaku to seal him, using the Desert Layered Imperial Funeral Seal, which using its sand body and its special curse seal, successfully restrains him. However, after Madara's Susanoo breaks free, Gaara looks on as a White Zetsu clone gives Madara his original right eye back.

As Madara turned his sight to Shukaku, Gaara uses the Desert: Hand technique to create two enormous hands to intercept the chains. Declaring that he would not allow Madara to have the beast, Shukaku is shocked by Gaara's words just as much as his actions. Telling the young man not to overdo it, Gaara boldly states that he was no longer a jinchuriki which now meant he could stay up as long as he wanted as the beast's equal — making reference to the fact that the beast had always earnestly promised to possess him if he fell into deep sleep. Madara was able to successfully break the chains and send one of his Susanoo Swords hurtling towards the Kazekage which is blocked by Shukaku.

As Madara dragged the beasts towards him, Kurama called to Gaara informing him of a plan it had and as Naruto is ejected from the Tailed Beast Mode, Gaara called out to his friend. Cushioning Naruto's fall with his sand, Gaara called out to Shukaku helplessly as the tanuki and the other tailed beasts got resealed into the statue. As Senju Tobirama attacked Madara, Gaara used the opportunity to escape while carrying the unconscious Naruto on his back, vowing that he would not allow his friend to die. Heading Yang Kurama's words, Gaara quickly finds Tsunade to heal Naruto. However, she is too drained of chakra, having been battling a Spiral Zetsu's massive Wood Release. Haruno Sakura goes in the Hokage's place as Gaara carries her and Naruto to the next location.

As Gaara carries her and Naruto to the next location, he explains to Sakura along the way that Yin half of the Nine-Tails sealed in Namikaze Minato can be used to save Naruto. While Sakura resorted to manually pumping Naruto's heart and performing CPR, Gaara finally brought them to Minato, currently trying to save Obito from the possession of Black Zetsu. Telling Minato the plan of Yang Kurama to save Naruto, Minato quickly attempted to transfer Yin Kurama to Naruto, only for Black Zetsu to block the attempt. Madara, now the Ten-Tails' jinchuriki, then arrived to reclaim his left eye.

As Black Zetsu attempted to return to Madara, Obito overshadowed Black Zetsu, keeping it merged to the young Uchiha, determined to talk to Madara. Gaara, equally determined to save Naruto, was held back by Hatake Kakashi who noted they had to wait for the right moment. Soon finding it, Gaara joined Kakashi and Minato in an assault against Madara, only for the resurrected Uchiha to easily repel their efforts. As Obito approached Madara, Gaara and everyone else were shocked to see Obito impale his former partner through the chest with his hand. Obito then proceeded to absorb some of the Ten-Tails' chakra and form his jinchuriki staff.

After saving Kakashi from Madara's attack, Maito Gai was told that taijutsu was one of the few options in fighting Madara. Gaara was amazed at Guy's power as he opened seven of the Eight Gates to fight Madara. After the assault proved ineffective against Madara, Guy resolved to use all eight gates. Proving enough to let Guy fight on par with Madara, Gaara was left shocked, to which Kakashi explained to the young Kazekage that this was the full version of what Rock Lee used against Gaara during the Chunin Exams. After hearing that using all eight gates would almost definitely cost Guy his life, remembering the bond Guy had with his student Lee, Gaara turned his attention to Lee, who firmly stated he is proud of his sensei. Minato then explained the true mechanics behind Madara's chakra orbs, to which Gaara used his sand to help his allies maneuver faster, ultimately depriving Madara of most of his orbs and letting Guy land a clean and powerful blow on Madara.

After the destruction of the holy tree by Naruto's new powers, including bringing Guy to Lee and Gaara's care. Gaara asks Naruto when he becomes Hokage, they can share a cup of sake. To which Naruto happily agrees to.

When Madara attempted to drop the massive earthen debris on the ground, Gaara asked Lee to leave there quickly and confirmed that Naruto definitely dealed with this. However, when the Infinite Tsukuyomi was activated, he and the others fell victim to the genjutsu before being linked to the roots of the Shinju. Inside the genjutsu, Gaara dreams of a happy childhood with his family and playing with Naruto as his close friend. Gaara also appeared in the Fifth Mizukage's dream, in this case attending the latter's wedding.

It's was reveal, that Minato free Gaara from the Shinju tree. But was unable to free Gaara from the Infinite Tsukuyomi Technique. He later woke up from the Infinite Tsukuyomi along with the rest of the Allied Shinobi Forces, after Sasuke and Naruto released the technique.

Epilogue
After the time-skip, he visits Temari at Shikamaru's house, and greets his nephew, Shikadai. He later attends the Five Kage Summit in Konohagakure.

Naruto movie 2
The movie revolves mostly around a special mineral called the Gelel Stone, which has a strong and mysterious power. There was once a clan that could control the stone's powers, but they were destroyed because of wars for the stone.

A battle was taking place at night on a desolate seaside beach between Sunagakure ninja and soldiers wearing bulky suits of armour. Despite their best efforts, the Sand ninja are slowly overwhelmed by the sheer strength of their mysterious opponents. The timely arrival of reinforcements, led by Kankuro and Gaara, turn the tide of battle, with Kankuro slicing apart a suit of armour with his puppet, and Gaara dispatching a large number of enemies with his signature Sand Waterfall Imperial Funeral. However, when Gaara orders the Sand-nin to shine a flare at the retreating enemies, a large warship is revealed, with its own arsenal of heavy weapons, much to the Sand shinobi's shock and curiosity of its appearance. The ship then opens fire with its guns, and Gaara's sand armour barely manages to protect his comrades as its artillery shells relentlessly pounded the beach.

Uzumaki Naruto, Nara Shikamaru, and Haruno Sakura are on a mission to capture a lost pet ferret and deliver it to its village. Naruto comically refers to the creature as a cat for the remainder of the movie. But while on their way to return the animal, they are attacked by a mysterious man clothed in knight armour. He too is accompanied by the strange armoured soldiers from before. The three fight him, but get separated when Naruto, the knight and the pet ferret all fall off a cliff. Shikamaru and Sakura only realise afterward what has happened and immediately go to look for them. Before they can, what appears to be an earthquake stops them in their tracks until they realise that it isn't an earthquake at all, but the movement of a giant mechanical moving structure. Sakura and Shikamaru split up to search for Naruto.

Naruto wakes up to find himself bandaged, as well right next to an equally wounded unknown man. They have been taken in by a very peaceful caravan of nomads that own a number of foreign animals, including ostriches and rhino. An old man goes on to inform Naruto that they are in fact the village that hired the leaf ninja to return their pet ferret, named Nerugui. The ferret also seems to have a great interest on the unknown man, much to the despair of the elder. While healing, the man seems to have a flashback dream that depicts what happened to him as a child. His home was invaded and destroyed while he hid, seemingly the only one alive. He is almost found, but in the last moment he is spared and manages to live.

Kahiko and his granddaughter Emina goes onto explaining to Naruto how their clan once originally had a country, but it was destroyed a very long time ago by some kind of disaster, and that Nerugui is proof of it. They also tell him how Nerugui is in fact older than the clan elder, having been looked after by the clan for generations. As Naruto looks for an explanation from Temujin, the knight only asks Naruto about his strange 'power,' that is actually his chakra. Temujin appears not to know what chakra is, even if he can wield a similar power. Temujin simply tells him that he is there 'to build a utopia,' then goes on to invite Naruto to join him. Naruto promptly refuses, only for the ostrich he is riding to run away on its own.

Still looking for an explanation from Temujin, Naruto follows him as he sneaks away from the caravan. After risking his injuries to save one of the caravan's children from falling from a tree, Temujin claims that his debt has been 'repaid' and continues to leave.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru infiltrates the mechanical structure and finds what appears to be a lab with children in capsules. They are overlooked by a pair of women (Kamira and Ranke) with similar armour to what Temujin had been wearing, whom operate a machine that makes the bulky soldiers from before. The two discuss the Gelel Stone, something that Shikamaru has never heard of. He is almost caught, but manages to flee at the last moment.

Naruto discovers that Temujin has gone missing and goes to head after him when Kahiko comes to him, saying how Nerugui has disappeared again. As his mission was to deliver the pet to the village the group was headed to, he still has to complete it. The clan elder even goes as far as saying he should have hired the Sand Ninja instead. Even though he returned the ferret to its owners, Naruto still must go and find it again. Meanwhile Sakura comes across an abandoned campfire and finds the caravan's trail.

Naruto goes on to find Temujin again, who has Nerugui with him. (He comically tells him to hand over the 'cat.') Temujin finally reveals his name, as they find themselves in front of the large vessel from before. They go inside, revealing the structure to be very advanced in technology and sort of like a European cathedral on the inside. There, Temujin introduces Naruto to his master, Haido. Dressed in what appears to be bishop robes, Haido goes on into detail about their goals, and again extends the invitation to join them. Naruto claims that he can't join them because he's going to be Hokage, but offers to spread the peace that they wish for. Nerugui appears on Temujin's shoulder, instantly showing a dislike for Haido. Haido starts thinking when they mention a caravan.

They move out when an overhead announcement tells them that the fleet that was sent to the Land of Wind has been annihilated. Temujin and Naruto head on to find the ship that had attacked the Sand Ninja, beached with all kinds of metal parts in the sand. Once they investigate the vessel, Naruto discovers Kankuro among a room filled with unconscious children amongst all of the rubble. Kankuro immediately attacks Temujin, explaining how the ship had been wiping out Land of Wind villages. Naruto demands an explanation, but all Temujin can reply is 'Noble sacrifices for the greater good.'

Before they battle, they are interrupted by the Kamira and Ranke, whom Kankurō and Gaara take on. Kamira uses a kind of mind control that seems to be genjutsu. Meanwhile, Ranke transforms herself, causing her to have several gorilla-like traits, as well as large lightning attacks. After a hefty battle, Gaara manages to distinguish Ranke's lightning and kill her, but Kamira manages to flee by growing bat-like features, wings included. During the commotion, Naruto is separated from Temujin.

The movie shifts to the caravan being attacked by one of Haido's followers known as Fugai. After destroying most of the wagons and killing most of the livestock, she questions Kahiko about where the Gelel stone is. Thankfully who should step in but Shikamaru and Sakura, who claim to have seen her flare. They already managed to take out the soldiers. Fugai goes on to take on wolf-like traits and manages to escape. Shikamaru questions the elder about the Gelel stones, but the he doesn't want to talk. They start to leave, saying that they need to find a friend. When Kahiko asks if their friend is Naruto, they find out that Naruto was with him. The elder goes on to ask the two for help.

Through a series of flashbacks, we discover how Temujin met Haido after his village was destroyed. We also discover that Temujin actually has a Gelel stone inside of him, causing his eyes to appear the red colour they are. After getting word that the caravan from before has information, Temujin returns to what is left of it only to be captured by Shikamaru. Naruto has managed to find Shikamaru and Sakura, and the three stay with the caravan people, who had managed to escape and are currently hiding in a cave. There, they question Temujin to find out what Haido wants with the Gelel stone. Kahiko claims that the stones only cause harm, but then Temujin reveals how he has a stone inside of him.

The elder goes on to question Temujin about a book and about their clan, confusing Temujin. He tells them that only members of the royal family of their clan could bind the stones with their bodies, Temujin being one of them. He then tells them that the royal family left and crossed the ocean, taking the Book of Gelel with them. Temujin hasn't come to a new land, in fact he has returned home. Kahiko tells them that they don't know of the stone's origin, but they do know it was a mineral that their clan was able to refine and use as they pleased. It was very powerful, so much that an entire civilisation was wiped out in a battle over it. Afterward the few remaining clan members sealed it away in attempt to keep it from happening again. The only reason they didn't destroy it was because the only ones who could were those of royal blood.

Determined after the tale, Temujin tells them that he only wants to achieve his dream of a utopia. He manages to escape (he was free the whole time) and kidnaps Kahiko to make him lead him to the Gelel mines. They don't know where the mines are, but Nerugui manages to lead them to it. Temujin and the elder find the ruins and journey deep into them to find the entrance to the mines.

The Leaf ninja try to save Kahiko, only for Haido and his entourage appear. Shikamaru tries to stop Haido to question him, only for Haido to claim he only wants peace, and he's going to create a utopia. Shikamaru ironically states that they are doing the exact opposite. Naruto angrily asks him if he even cares about his fallen comrades, whom Haido only claims are 'noble sacrifices.' Temujin grimly agrees.

After Naruto tells them that dreams without friends are nothing, the elder finally triggers a mechanism that seals him and Temujin into a passageway into the mines. Haido reveals that he possesses the Book of Gelel before smashing Naruto into the wall like it was nothing and follows them. Kamira and Fugai attack, but Shikamaru and Sakura hold them off to allow Naruto to follow Haido.

Temujin and Kahiko find themselves in the 'Chamber of Sealing' and find a picture that appears to be one of despair. The elder tries to reason with Temujin, but Temujin doesn't wish to hear it. Kahiko then reveals a knife.

Meanwhile, Kamira toys with Shikamaru as she flies around, he is unable to get a lock on her shadow. But then he suddenly spots Kankuro on the far side of the ruins. As Fugai chases after Sakura, she is unable to lose her even after Sakura blinds her. Finding a crystal structure that creates echoes, Sakura uses herself as bait so Fugai will howl and triggers the crystals to collapse on top of her. Shikamaru fills the whole area with lines with explosives (most of them are fake just pieces of paper) so Kamira cannot fly about. Just as Kamira thinks she knows what he has in store, Kankuro suddenly launches one of his puppets to automatically trap and kill her.

After wounding Temujin, the elder has his blood on a dagger that he tries to pierce a seal on the floor, only for Haido to interrupt. Just as Haido finds the mine's key, Nerugui tries to stop him. The ferret is killed by a barrier around him, a Gelel stone falling out of the ferret's mouth. Temujin stands in front of the elder as Haido is about to kill him, Temujin claiming there is no reason to kill him. Temujin suddenly has a bit of deja vu, just as Naruto appears. Haido tells Temujin to kill the both of them, but Temujin has had enough and refuses. Haido then claims that he is useless, no different from his parents. Deja vu happens again, and Temujin finally realises that Haido was the one who murdered his parents.

Haido goes on to turn into his own kind of creature, then captures Temujin and extracts the Gelel stone from him. The elder begs Naruto to stop Haido. Naruto encourages Temujin to get up as he fights, even going so far as to use Rasengan. But Haido has managed to tap into the mine and heals all of his twisted limbs. Naruto still wishes for Temujin to help him, and just as Haido goes to finish them, the fake soldiers go and protect them both. The souls of the children emerge as the soldiers are destroyed, and Temujin finally realises his wrongdoings.

Combining both Rasengen and the Galel stone, Temujin and Naruto manage to to kill Haido. But in the process they accidentally destroy the key to the mine. The walls start to crumble around them as the mine spirals out of control. Shikamaru, Sakura and Kankurō all manage to retrieve the children from the machines, only for the ruins to start collapsing. They cannot control it, but there is a way to destroy it. If Temujin puts his hand on the seal from before, he can summon a time/space continuum. Only royal blood can do it, and the one who does will end up sacrificing himself. Naruto tries to stop Temujin from doing it, for Temujin to knock him out. He says doing it is the only way to atone for what he's done. Temujin goes into the collapsing Galel to the seal and activates it.

All is quiet as Shikamaru, Sakura, Kankuro and Gaara can only watch as everything in the void's way begins to be devoured. Naruto remembers Sasuke as he is faced with Temujin's death. As Temujin waits for his fate, suddenly he finds himself floating as a line of Naruto clones have clutched onto him. Sakura almost goes into the void herself to see where Naruto is.

Only at the last moment a burst of the Gelel escapes and causing the land mass to start moving. When it finally stops, they find Kahiko, who claims that he feels even better than ever thanks to the Gelel. He is even joyously reunited with a still alive Nerugui. The wastelands have now turns into an oasis, as all the children awaken.

Temujin awakes, realising he's still alive with Naruto still clutching his arm. They find picture from despair from before, and it wasn't one after all, in fact it was one of hope.

Later they all gather at the ocean, where Temujin and the others all gather and prepare themselves to leave, back to the land that they came from. They are aware that it's one with lots of conflict, but Temujin wishes to help where he can. Temujin's eyes have now turned back to their original bright green. And much to the elder's disappointment again, Nerugui has chosen to go with them as well. As they leave, Naruto stands on a cliff and shares a sign with Temujin, promising each other never to give up.

Naruto Shippuuden movie 3
The film concerns the potential outbreak of a Fourth Shinobi World War when ninja with kekkei genkai abilities begin to disappear from Kumogakure, Iwagakure, Kirigakure, and Sunagakure.

Team Kakashi is sent on a mission to follow the tracks of the missing kekkei genkai-wielding ninja, which leads them to Mount Shumisen, located between the Land of Earth and Kusagakure. Sai, who is flying on his ink bird, is attacked by a bird which attacks with explosive tag-like feathers. Naruto, disobeying Kakashi's orders to continue the mission, runs towards where Sai fell, saying he will not abandon Sai. There, chimera-like creatures attack them which they quickly defeat, although Naruto is injured in the process.

Back at Konoha, Kakashi gives a report on the mission to Tsunade, while worrying that the next ninja targeted will be him. Tsunade seems to not care so much, telling Kakashi to relax. At the hospital, Kakashi gives Naruto his bells, which they used for their first drill together, and tells him to fix them because he crushed them.

Konoha ANBU are sent to Mount Shumisen by Tsunade to search the area for tracks of the missing kekkei genkai ninja. There, a mysterious ninja along with his followers, absorb their chakra with his mysterious technique using their Earth nature affinity against them.

That night, the same mysterious ninja, the mastermind and antagonist of the film known as Hiruko, projects his image over the skies of the Five Great Ninja Villages, introducing himself as a shinobi of Konohagakure. He states that he has taken the kekkei genkai of the four missing ninja using the Chimera Technique, and that he plans to gain the fifth and final kekkei genkai which will make him immortal. By doing so, he declares the Fourth Shinobi World War. Konohagakure is believed to be behind the incident, as by the way Hiruko introduced himself, it seems that Konoha is using or working with Hiruko. Rumours circulate that they are preparing a rebellion. With the other nations amassing troops at the Land of Fire's borders, threatening invasion, the Fire Daimyō orders Tsunade to apprehend those who are responsible and prove Konoha's innocence; in the event of failure, the Land of Fire will be forced to destroy the village in order to preserve world peace.

Tsunade is awaiting Gaara at a secret meeting place to discuss what shall be done. However, on the way there Gaara and his Sunagakure shinobi are attacked by a bird-like creature, which traps them in an avalanche.

Meanwhile, Hiruko states that the Chimera Technique alone can only absorb a maximum of four kekkei genkai, and that certain conditions, most importantly the light af an annular eclipse, which is two days away, is required for the absorption of the fifth and final kekkei genkai, which will make him immortal. That night, Hiruko appears before Kakashi in a dream, activating a Puppet Curse he had placed on him over ten years ago, planning to steal Kakashi's Sharingan. Kakashi asks Tsunade to allow him to go, for the sake of the village. Before he leaves, Kakashi asks Tsunade to place a special seal on him which will automatically activate Kamui when Hiruko attempts to absorb him.

The same night, Shikamaru is visiting Asuma's grave while Kakashi is visiting Obito's. Kakashi asks Shikamaru to tell Naruto that he is leaving the village, and not to follow him. As Kakashi lets Hiruko take over his body, Naruto sees him and chases him. Shikamaru stops him and tells him what Kakashi told him to say. At the Hokage's office, Tsunade orders the Konoha 11 to stay away from Kakashi, labelling him as a missing-nin for the sake of the secret mission. After the others leave, Tsunade tells Nara Shikamaru the truth, trusting that he will do what he needs to do as the leader. Meanwhile, Sakura comes to rescue Naruto from the cell that Shikamaru put him in, then they leave the village to rescue Kakashi. The Konoha 11 are sent to retrieve them.

The next day, Sunagakure is lining up troops and weapons at the borders of the Land of Fire, thinking that Konoha attacked Gaara, their Kazekage.

When Naruto and Sakura follow Kakashi, the Konoha 11 meet with them, and try to bring them back. Naruto reveals what Kakashi once told Team 7 during their bell test: "It is true that in the world of ninja, those who break the rules and regulations are regarded as scum, but those who abandon their comrades are even worse than scum," which changes the minds of some members. However the scene is interrupted by Ichi, who was sent by Hiruko to stop and/or delay them, using his chimera snakes. Team Guy stays behind to allow the others to pass through the first gate.

Ni and her chimera nin-dogs stop them at the next gate, and Team 8 stays behind to delay her, while Naruto and Sakura, and later Team 10, pass.

As Naruto, Sakura, and Team 10 reach the next gate, San appears riding the bird that fires exploding feathers. Team 10 is still following the original mission, and tries to stop Naruto and Sakura. However, Sai appears on his ink bird, using a flash bomb to create a distraction, and takes Naruto and Sakura with him, leaving Team 10 behind to fight San.

At this point, Rock Lee and Neji defeat Ichi using Front Lotus: Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven while Tenten distracts him, and Team 8 defeats Ni using Secret Technique: Insect Sphere inside a trap that Shino built while Inuzuka Kiba and Hyuga Hinata delayed her. Team 10 gains an advantage over San, with Shikamaru binding him with his shadow and Ino using the Mind Body Switch Technique to take over his mind to tell him that they are after Naruto, not Kakashi. They also ask him where Kakashi is headed. However, San breaks out of the Mind Body Switch Technique. He then summons Ichi and Ni, uses the Chimera Technique on them and himself, and the three become a huge chimera, which seems to be a combination of all their respective chimera beasts, possessing all of their abilities.

Meanwhile, Gaara is thinking of what Jiraiya said while aiding in the recovery of Gaara and the Suna-nin. He has told Gaara that he believes Kakashi, or even Naruto, will defeat Hiruko, and it is up to Gaara depending on whether he believes in Naruto's strength or not. As the war between Konoha and Suna is about to begin with ground combat troops and heavy artillery from both sides facing each other, Jiraiya appears above Gamabunta and gives to Suna the proof that Gaara is still alive. At that moment, Gaara moves to where Naruto, Sakura, and Sai are headed and stops them. He says Naruto's will is not what Kakashi wants, and Naruto begins to fight Gaara. Gaara states that Naruto is too idealistic, and that he doesn't have the power to make his goals become true. However, Naruto strongly says by the belief that as a fellow comrade, he cannot allow Kakashi to sacrifice himself. Naruto breaks through Gaara's Shield of Sand, and punches him.

The rest of the members of Konoha 11 arrive to aid Team 10, and they bind the chimera beast, with the help of Tenten, by sending their chakra to the chains that were holding the beast, they asked Shikamaru to go and stop Naruto, Sai and Sakura. Shikamaru meets Gaara, who tells him that he felt what Naruto feels in the battle. Shikamaru continues on. Meanwhile, Naruto reaches the final gate, and realises this is the place they came to on their past mission. Naruto goes to Kakashi and tries to stop him, but Kakashi walks on with no response. When Naruto grabs his arm, he sees the seal on his wrist, and Sai tells him what it is. Shikamaru, who has finally caught up to them, reveals that Tsunade placed the seal on him, so that they may defeat Hiruko at the sacrifice of Kakashi. Kakashi passes through the final gate before the temple.

As Naruto, Sakura, Sai, and Shikamaru approach the temple, Naruto hears Hiruko's voice, and questions why he did this, and Hiruko answers by telling his story. He claims to have been a former friend of the Sannin, but he was not a skilled shinobi like they were. He was developing the Chimera Technique, a jutsu that would allow him to create a synthetic body by combining several separate ones. After the Third Shinobi World War, he was shocked when he saw Kakashi, not only because he had survived the battle, but because he had received the Sharingan, a kekkei genkai, from the original user, Uchiha Obito. This gave Hiruko the idea to steal kekkei genkai to become powerful like the Sannin. However, the Hokage found out about his research, and Hiruko was forced to flee.

As Kakashi reaches the temple, Hiruko appears from the shadows of the temple, and welcomes Kakashi. Seeing it as the only way to save Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, and Sai try to defeat Hiruko although Shikamaru tries to stop them. Hiruko, using his four kekkei genkai: Storm Release, Dark Release, Steel Release, and Swift Release, defeats them with little effort. He then steps into the temple with Kakashi. Naruto stands up, deciding that he cannot give up. Shikamaru tries to stop him, saying that he must protect the unborn children of Konoha, the "King". Naruto states that he'll protect them too, and that he loves Konoha for its shinobi, who will sacrifice themselves to save one another. However, deciding who will be sacrificed from the start isn't what Naruto wants, and Naruto believes there is no future for the children if Konoha becomes a place like this. As Naruto walks away, Shikamaru sees Asuma in him, and protects him from surrounding barrier tags with his Shadow Sewing Technique. He states that Naruto has inherited the Will of Fire, trusting the future of Konoha to him.

Naruto enters the temple, where Hiruko begins the absorption at the beginning of the eclipse. Suddenly, Kakashi's Mangekyō Sharingan activates, and the space inside the slime created by the Chimera technique begins to distort. Naruto, trying to save Kakashi, creates shadow clones and breaks into the slime with multiple Rasengans and pulls him out. Kakashi wakes up, asks Naruto why he is here with him and then sighs that the plan failed. Hiruko is still alive, and he states that the eclipse hasn't ended yet, and releases a large amount of chakra, reducing the surrounding area to rubble. When Hiruko summons the chimera beast that the Konoha 11 were keeping restrained, Shikamaru, Sakura, and Sai fight the beast while Naruto and Kakashi face Hiruko. Shikamaru notes that Hiruko's weak spot is his chest, which is still hollow as it is the space that Hiruko wants to assimilate Kakashi into. As the chimera beast begins to gain an advantage over them, the other Konoha 11 arrive to help.

Chōji uses his Multi-Size Technique to become a giant and attacks the beast, followed by Kiba and Akamaru's Fang Passing Fang which destroys the beast's wings, then from the sky, Hinata and Neji appear and attack the beast with the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. Lee kicks it into a mountain and Tenten finishes it off with her Twin Rising Dragons, covering its body with a large number of kunai with explosive tags attached and detonating them. Meanwhile, Hiruko is gaining an advantage over Naruto and Kakashi, easily absorbing their techniques: the Big Ball Rasengan and Lightning Cutter. Hiruko gives Naruto a taste of his own attack - Rasengan and returns Kakashi his Lightning Cutter. As a last resort, Naruto forms the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, and carries the impact to Hiruko's chest. Hiruko tries to absorb and copy it, but cannot combine the high level of shape manipulation with the high level of nature transformation. As the Rasenshuriken's impact occurs, the chimera dies as Tenten makes her explosive tags explode.

In his final moments, Hiruko, in his original form, asks Kakashi what he did wrong. Kakashi tells him that he used others to overcome his weakness, and only tried to become perfect himself. Hiruko says that is the way the strong ones think, and that he did not have any comrades. Suddenly, Hiruko sees his old friends Tsunade, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, the Third Hokage and some others appear before his eyes, and they tell him that they were there for him. Kakashi tells him if he had tried to bond with them, they would've helped him and he shouldn't have tried to do everything by himself. Hiruko then tells Kakashi that was what Kakashi tried to do this time, abandoning his comrades. Kakashi says that he and Hiruko made the same mistake as they were both lost. Hiruko asks him if he has finally made a connection, and dies. Kakashi looks over to see most of the gang cheering for Naruto. He then says that Naruto had long surpassed him.

Gaara appears before the Suna-nin army, and tells them everything has been solved, and to withdraw. Tsunade and Jiraiya talk about how they have been saved, and that the kids are completely different than they were at their age. They end the conversation with a conclusion that they are getting old, and a decision to leave the future in the hands of young generation in which they can freely put their faith into.

The movie ends at Mount Shumisen with Kakashi thinking about Obito. He smiles at Naruto after seeing the similarities between the two. Naruto takes the smile as something creepy and random. The Konoha 11 surround them on various parts of the rocky ledge, each give their input on Kakashi's sexual orientation upon seeing this. Kakashi hurriedly denies their assumptions but not before Naruto panics and flees from him. Kakashi then chases after the fleeing Naruto trying to explain himself.

Video Games
Gaara is a playable character in the following video games:
 * Battle Stadium D.O.N
 * Jump Stars Victory VS
 * Jump Ultimate Stars
 * Naruto RPG 2 Chidori vs Rasengan
 * Naruto Shippuuden Clash of Ninja Revolution 3
 * Naruto Shippuuden Gekito Ninja Taisen! EX
 * Naruto Shippuuden Gekito Ninja Taisen! EX 2
 * Naruto Shippuuden Gekito Ninja Taisen! EX 3
 * Naruto Shippuuden Gekito Ninja Taisen! Special
 * Naruto Shippuuden Legends: Akatsuki Rising
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ninja Council 4
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ninja Destiny 2
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ninja Destiny 3
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja 4
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja 5
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Heroes 3
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Impact
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 3
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution
 * Naruto Clash of Ninja 2
 * Naruto Clash of Ninja Revolution
 * Naruto Clash of Ninja Revolution 2
 * Naruto Gekito Ninja Taisen! 3
 * Naruto Gekito Ninja Taisen! 4
 * Naruto Konoha Senki
 * Naruto Ninja Council 3
 * Naruto Ninja Destiny
 * Naruto Path of the Ninja 2
 * Naruto Rise of a Ninja
 * Naruto The Broken Bond
 * Naruto Ultimate Ninja
 * Naruto Ultimate Ninja 2
 * Naruto Ultimate Ninja 3
 * Naruto Ultimate Ninja Heroes
 * Naruto Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2 The Phantom Fortress
 * Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm
 * Naruto Uzumaki Chronicles
 * Naruto Uzumaki Chronicles 2

Uzumaki Naruto
When Uzumaki Naruto first met Gaara prior to the Chunin Exams, he was unaware that he was a jinchuriki like himself until he and Shikamaru stopped him from finishing off the hospitalised Lee. Ever since their encounter, Naruto understood that Gaara had been through the same pain like he had. Though he was afraid to fight Gaara at first, later during the Invasion of Konoha, Naruto was able to overcome this fear after seeing both Sasuke and Sakura in danger and was determined to protect them both from Gaara. When Naruto defeated him, Gaara, in great shock, questioned him why was he so strong. Naruto explained that despite having suffered a relentless lonely life, he never gave up hope on being acknowledged as a person and ultimately found friends who truly cared for him.

From that day on, Naruto's undying devotion and desire to protect his loved ones inspired Gaara to take on a similar path, and over time, he eventually became the Fifth Kazekage of Sunagakure and was finally able to connect with his people and be acknowledged as a person rather than a jinchūriki. When Naruto insisted to save Gaara from the Akatsuki, he lamented to find that they killed Gaara by extracting Shukaku. Though he criticised Chiyo for sealing the tailed beast inside him, Naruto offered his chakra to her for Gaara's revival.

At the Five Kage Summit, when Sasuke attacked the meeting, Gaara tried to convince him to go back to light, but Sasuke's refusal forced Gaara to consider any attempt Naruto made to reach his former friend futile, along with possibly damaging his faith in him and his devotion to his friends. He later confronted Naruto about this face-to-face, stating to Naruto that if he were to become Hokage, he would be placed in a position of either saving Sasuke or protecting Konoha's people from him. When they met again on the battlefield, his earlier decision motivated by the need to protect his friend, Gaara eventually came to accept that he may have made an error in judgement when he decided to isolate Naruto from the war, willing to place his trust in him again. Stating likewise, Naruto insisted that he had no plans on dying before becoming Hokage, and said that Gaara's position as Kazekage didn't mean that he should treat him like a kid.

Gaara's locality to Naruto is shown during the climax of the Fourth Shinobi War, when Yang Kurama was extracted from of Naruto, and Gaara took his still alive unconscious friend to the latter's reincarnated late father, in order to have Yin Kurama be sealed inside of Naruto. The plan was successful, and once Naruto regain consciousness. Gaara told him that when he becomes Hokage that they can share a cup of Sake together, in which Naruto happily agree. Gaara's bond with Naruto was also extended in his Infinite Tsukuyomi dream as Gaara dreamed of having a happy childhood with all of his family together, and having Naruto as his childhood best friend.

Ultimately Gaara was free from the genjutsu after Naruto and Sasuke ended the war. Two years later after the war, when the Raikage decided to blow up the Moon, Gaara voiced his vote against it to buy Naruto time to save them. He then appeared at Naruto and Hinata's wedding congratulating them. Gaara was seen shaking Hinata's hand while Naruto bumped fists with B.

Gaara eventually formed a close friendship with Naruto, viewing the Konoha 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 jinchuriki 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.

Knownable Relatives

 * Karura (Mother/dead)
 * Rasa (Father/dead)
 * Yashamaru (Uncle/dead)
 * Temari (Older Sister)
 * Kankuro (Older Brother)
 * Nara Shikadai (Nephew)
 * Nara Shikamaru (Brother in law)
 * Uzumaki Naruto (Best Friend)
 * Baki (Sensei)
 * Matsuri (Student)
 * Uchiha Sasuke (#1 Rival)

Trivia
According to the databook(s):
 * When Gaara was first named in the English Shōnen Jump, his name was rendered as "Gāra".
 * Up through Naruto chapter 58, Gaara is seen wearing multiple earrings.
 * In the manga, Gaara's Kazekage hat is green. In the anime, it was originally light blue. They were recoloured as of Naruto Shippuuden episode 199, showing the Kazekage hat as coloured green.
 * In the Naruto character popularity polls, Gaara was placed in 7th in the first, second and third, 8th in the fourth, 10th in the fifth, 7th in the sixth and 4th in the seventh and last and most recent poll. He is one of four characters who stayed in the Top Ten of every Character Popularity Poll.
 * Gaara's hobby is 'battling and cultivating cacti.
 * Gaara's favorite foods are salted tongue and gizzard, while his least favorite are yokan and marron glacé.
 * Gaara and Naruto are both the same weight and height by Part II.
 * Gaara wishes to fight Uchiha Sasuke and anyone, if it is for the sake of his village.
 * Gaara has completed 34 official missions in total: 0 D-rank, 9 C-rank, 8 B-rank, 14 A-rank, 3 S-rank.
 * Gaara's favorite words are, in the first and second databook, "love for oneself" (自愛, jiai), and in the third databook, "affection" (慈愛, jiai) and "future" (未来, mirai).
 * Shukaku's previous jinchuriki foretold that one day someone would show it the meaning of the words which were tattooed on his own hands: "accept" (受, ukeru) and "heart" (心, kokoro). Incidentally, the tattoo on Gaara's forehead "love" (愛, ai) is a combination of these two kanji.
 * In the English version, his nickname is "Gaara of the Desert".

Voice Actors

 * Japanese : Akira Ishida
 * English : Liam O' Brien

all information on Gaara came from http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Gaara