Gaara

Now Kazekage, Gaara is captured by Deidara and Sasori in Shippuden's opening arc, and dies when the One-Tail is extracted before Chiyo revives him at the cost of her life. Transformed by Naruto's example from a murderous jinchūriki into a beloved leader, he later becomes Regimental Commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces and gives the speech that unites five rival villages.

A slight, pale young man with tousled dark red hair, jade-green eyes ringed by heavy shadows left over from years without sleep, and no eyebrows. The red character for love is carved into the left side of his forehead, a self-inflicted scar from childhood. His usual field outfit is a long crimson coat with a high collar over dark trousers, with a huge gourd of sand strapped across his back by a leather harness. For official duties he wears the Kazekage's pale robes and wide brimmed, veiled hat.

Quiet, measured and slow to raise his voice, Gaara has grown from a murderous child into one of the most compassionate leaders in the shinobi world. He speaks plainly and without ornament, often making others uncomfortable with how directly he addresses pain he recognises from his own past. He carries an enormous sense of responsibility for Sunagakure and will spend his own life without hesitation to shield it, which frustrates the siblings who love him. Socially he can be stiff and earnest, unsure how to accept affection he once believed impossible. His guiding conviction, learned from Naruto, is that bonds rather than solitude give a person strength.

Born as the youngest child of the Fourth Kazekage, Gaara had the tailed beast Shukaku sealed inside him before birth, a process that killed his mother Karura. Raised as a weapon and feared by his own village, he was cared for by his uncle Yashamaru until the Kazekage ordered the man to test his loyalty, an act that convinced the boy he had never been loved. He carved the love symbol into his own skin and lived only for himself, killing without remorse. His defeat and, more importantly, his conversations with Naruto Uzumaki during the failed invasion of Konoha changed him, and by the time of this series he has won his village's trust and been named its Fifth Kazekage.

1. Kazekage Rescue

   Attacked above his own village by the Akatsuki member Deidara, Gaara exhausts himself shielding Sunagakure's civilians from an aerial bombardment before being taken. The Akatsuki extract Shukaku, killing him. Konoha and Suna teams recover his body, and the elder Chiyo restores his life with a forbidden technique, giving her own in exchange, while the village that once shunned him weeps around him.

2. Five Kage Summit

   Attending the summit in the Land of Iron as the youngest Kage, Gaara argues for a unified response to the Akatsuki and is met with distrust. He confronts Sasuke Uchiha directly, speaking to him as someone who also chose revenge and hatred, and is rebuffed. Afterwards he throws Suna's strength behind the formation of the Allied Shinobi Forces.

3. Shinobi World War: Fourth Division

   Named commander of the Fourth Division, Gaara steadies the allied army with a speech about shared loss rather than village loyalty. On the battlefield he faces reanimated Kage, including his own father, and finally learns the truth about his mother's love and Yashamaru's orders. Rasa, reconciled, lends him gold dust to combine with his sand.

4. Ten-Tails and Madara

   Gaara uses his sand to ferry allies across the battlefield, catch falling comrades and carry the failing Naruto to help. He fights alongside the other Kage against Madara Uchiha, surviving where many fall, and helps hold the line while Naruto and Sasuke pursue the enemy. He is caught in the Infinite Tsukuyomi and released when it ends.

5. Aftermath

   With the war over, Gaara returns to Sunagakure and continues as Kazekage, maintaining the alliance between the hidden villages that the conflict created. He remains one of Naruto's closest allies and confidants, and attends his friend's wedding in Konoha as an honoured guest of the new era he helped build.

Naruto Uzumaki

Closest friend

The person who convinced Gaara that a jinchuriki could be loved. Their bond runs both ways: Gaara repeatedly speaks up for Naruto before the other Kage and puts his own body between him and danger during the war.

Temari and Kankuro

Elder siblings

Once terrified of him, they are now his fiercest protectors and advisers. Kankuro nearly dies pursuing his captors, and Temari acts as his diplomatic voice abroad, both quietly proud of the leader he became.

Chiyo

Village elder who revived him

The Suna elder who helped seal Shukaku into him as an infant gave her own life to bring him back, an act of atonement that reshaped how the village saw its Kazekage.

Rasa

Father

The Fourth Kazekage who made his son a weapon and later ordered his death. Reanimated during the war, he finally tells Gaara the truth about Karura's love and apologises before being sealed.

Shukaku

Former tailed beast

The One-Tail tormented his sleep and drove his bloodlust for years. After its extraction and eventual revival, the two reach a grudging understanding rather than the old hostility.

• He holds off Deidara alone in the sky above Sunagakure, prioritising the safety of the villagers below over his own survival.
• His body is carried home to a village that once feared him, and the crowd's grief shows how completely he has changed their hearts.
• Chiyo's sacrifice returns him to life, with Naruto lending the chakra that makes the revival possible.
• His address to the assembled Allied Shinobi Forces unites soldiers from rival villages under a single banner.
• He hears from his reanimated father that his mother's protective sand was an act of love, not hatred.

• The character carved on his forehead reads love, a mark he gave himself as a child.
• He is the youngest person shown to hold the office of Kazekage.
• His seiyuu, Akira Ishida, has voiced him since the character's first appearance in the original series.
• He keeps the gourd of sand even after losing Shukaku, since the sand responds to his own chakra.

• Naruto Uzumaki
• Sasuke Uchiha
• Sakura Haruno
• Kakashi Hatake
• Sai
• Jiraiya

Back to the Naruto Shippuden guide