Gaara — What is Love?
In the Naruto Universe, the mistreatment of the Jinchuriki (the individuals inside whom the 9 Tailed Beasts are sealed) is no secret. Rather, it was a way of life. Keeping away from the Jinchuriki of your village was a way of life, a way to keep yourself safe, and a way to show your complete and utter hatred for the Tailed Beast which probably terrorised your village at some point and caused the death of someone you loved. A consequence of this extreme ostracisation of the Jinchuriki is a life of isolation and loneliness, something which ended up influencing the primary motivations behind the actions of most of the Jinchuriki. Gaara was one of them.
Gaara was born Hidden Sand Village, as the son of the 4th Kazekage Rasa, with the One-Tailed Beast Shikaku sealed inside of him. Due to his premature birth and the sealing of Shikaku inside him, Gaara’s mother Karura died after he was born. His status as a Jinchuuriki effectively destined him to a childhood of loneliness, isolation and suffering. The villagers of the Hidden Sand Village ostracised Gaara, despite his efforts to bond with them. It was only Gaara’s maternal uncle Yashamaru who he truly bonded with. Yashamaru to Gaara was what Iruka Sensei was to Naruto. For Gaara, Yashamaru was the one who gave him hope in the world, and the one person who gave him a sense of what it means to be acknowledged, to be loved. Yashamaru told Gaara that the Sand which protected him was an extension of his mother’s love, the one parting gift she bestowed upon her son to protect him because she realised she couldn’t love and protect him anymore.
Gaara’s relationship with Yashamaru was the only human connection he had ever made, which makes it all the more tragic when Yashamaru attempted to assassinate the young Jinchuuriki on the Kazekage’s orders. As Yashamaru died, he broke Gaara’s spirit by telling him that his mother actually never wanted him, and that the Sand which protected him was, in fact, an extension of his mother’s hatred, and that he willingly volunteered to assassinate him because Yashamaru blamed Gaara for killing his sister.
“You took the life of my beloved sister when you were born. My sister did not wish your birth. She became the village’s sacrifice, and she died cursing this village.”
That was Gaara’s breaking point. The moment he realised that he had just lost the one person who loved him, he transformed into the Shikaku and terrorised the village in a fit of rage. With the word “Love” tattooed above his left eye, Gaara evolved from a gentle child who only wished to be acknowledged and loved to one who only loved himself, one who expressed such a deep hatred for the world that he obtained joy from killing.
The similarities of Gaara’s and Naruto’s childhoods are clear, but where they differ is that Naruto had Iruka Sensei, then Kakashi sensei, then Sasuke Uchiha, then Sakura Haruno, and many others. The only hope for Gaara to understand love died with Yashamaru.
Naruto grew up to have friends and people who cared about him for who he was. The same couldn’t be said for Gaara, where the villagers, even his own father, saw him as nothing more than a weapon to be used in an effort to attack the Hidden Leaf Village. Naruto grew up to understand the value of having comrades and peers, people who acknowledge you and are willing to fight for you, and you for them. Gaara did not have that luxury. Gaara believed that only by loving yourself could you achieve true strength. Naruto believed that fighting for the sake of others is what gives you true strength. When the two Jinchuuriki finally clashed during the Sand’s assault on the Leaf Village, and Naruto emerged as the victor, he was able to show Gaara through his compassion and unrelenting will the need to have those bonds with others.
It’s almost unbearable, isn’t it… the feeling of being all alone. I know that feeling; I’ve been there in that dark and lonely place, but now there are others, other people who mean a lot to me. I care more about them than I do myself, and I won’t let anyone hurt them. That’s why I’ll never give up. I will stop you, even if I have to kill you! They saved me from myself. They rescued me from my loneliness. They were the first to accept me for who I am. They’re my friends.
Through Naruto, Gaara was able to learn the lesson Yashamaru had taught him when he was young: having people who care about you, and possessing a desire to protect and cherish them, is what gives your life light, the light of love. Through Naruto, Gaara learned what he could achieve by fighting for others, for not letting the curse of the Sand define who he was.
This transformation in Gaara’s character is shown in his actions as the 5th Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village, when he assists Naruto in rescuing Sasuke from Orochimaru, and when he sacrifices himself to protect his village when Deidara of the Akatsuki attacked the Hidden Sand Village. He had expressed his desire of wanting his existence to be necessary for others to his elder brother Kankuro, and when he saw how the Sand Shinobi eagerly waited for his return after the Akatsuki kidnapped him, he realised just how much his kind heart, his compassion and his desire to protect those he loved, had affected the villagers. The ones who had once shunned him, now welcomed him with open hearts and gratitude.
Gaara’s desire to protect those he cared about was also in full display during the 4th Shinobi War. His father Rasa had been resurrected and Gaara was the only one who could fight him. When Rasa saw how much his son had grown, that he had friends and comrades, he felt shameful. He confesses to Gaara that his mother actually did love him, and that the Sand which he thought was a curse was actually the truest manifestation of his mother’s love. Upon this revelation, Gaara cried tears of joy and relief. He cried because he realised that he was truly loved by the one person who he thought hated him the most. This was when Gaara received true closure, and the wound in his heart was finally fully healed.
So what is love? Love is compassion, like that shown by Naruto when he finally bested Gaara. Love is forgiveness, like the way Gaara forgave his father. Love is warmth, like the warmth which filled Gaara’s heart when he realised how much he was truly loved by the people he cared about and strove to protect. Above all else, love is selfless, like the love shown by Gaara’s mother as she bestowed the Sand on her son to protect him even after she died. Perhaps Yashamaru put it better than I could:
Love is… care and devotion you feel for the precious ones around you.
