I saw your KakaGai analysis and loved it. I was wondering if you would be interested in analyzing Naruto/Gaara? Please and thank you.

luxurien-deactivated20150202:

Analysis of NaruGaa

angelcamael sorry it took so long for me to write this T_T

-.-.-

I actually ship NaruGaa/GaaNaru quite a bit because their relationship is so beautiful >.< They have so many moments and understand each other so well.

To start talking about NaruGaa you have to talk about their deeper understanding of each other. Even NaruSasu/SasuNaru don’t have as deep an understanding (at least until the end, at chapter 699) of each other as Naruto and Gaara do almost instantly. They didn’t have to fight each other and have hundreds of chapters of drama to reach that understanding. As soon as they understand their shared past they understand each other. And Naruto desperately tries to reach out to Gaara to help bring some light into his darkened world and it works.

I’m sure we already know but for the sake of the analysis let’s go back into their shared past here:

1. Both are jinchuriki which means they already can assume so much about their pasts that other characters can’t really comprehend. Being hosts to demons means they were hated. That hate cannot simply be understood by just anyone. Even people who understand loneliness (every other person in the Naruto universe understands loneliness though to be honest) can’t comprehend the hate. You can be alone but can you understand being alone and hated? Treated like a monster that you don’t understand? That degree of separation from society is something no one but jinchuriki can understand in the Naruto universe.
   1. I’m not saying loneliness isn’t a big thing to understand each other, I mean Naruto was so lonely he was making shadow clones of himself just to keep himself company. Loneliness is terrible and shared by many characters, including Naruto and Gaara, but the understanding of hatred is much deeper.
   2. Both were betrayed by people they trusted. Gaara’s uncle “betrayed” him very early on, or more specifically his father, but Gaara believed it was his uncle until pretty late on. Either way, Gaara loved his uncle and was pushed into a deeper hatred when that hate was pushed onto him. Naruto was betrayed by Mizuki in chapter 1 who used him to get Konoha’s hidden secrets scroll.
   3. Both understand what it’s like to have a demon inside of them, what it’s like to have their power go haywire. For Gaara this happened a lot, but for Naruto it only happened a few times. It happened and in the process he hurt his master, Jiraiya, and so many other situations.
   4. Because both understand how deep their loneliness, how deep the hatred people showed to them went, and how hard it is to be betrayed, both value their relationships in a way others can’t comprehend. Naruto values every bond he has so much he can’t let go of Sasuke because it would mean losing someone he grew to care for, something that is so rare for a jinchuriki, something he had to strive so hard for. Naruto and Gaara may not show it on the outside but inside their intensity for love in a relationship is insanely high. They will love too much, be very vulnerable, frankly both will be needy in a way that others would have a difficult time comprehending but the other wouldn’t. Because they went through the same situation, they know.

Okay so they have a past understanding right? We agree to that.

Now think about their battle in which Gaara changes his ways. Naruto realizes that Gaara has been struggling and living like him this whole time. This is huge for Naruto because Naruto is someone we know who isn’t exactly the smartest needle in the haystack. He has a hard time understanding other people, and he doesn’t even begin to understand Sasuke until he loses Jiraiya himself. It’s only after Jiraiya’s death that Naruto changes significantly and begins to understand others on a different level, and begins to forgive things he didn’t previously. But with Gaara he didn’t need someone he loved to die to understand them, he understood very quickly. He pushed Gaara out of his darkness by giving him hope. He told Gaara he could make friends. He gave Gaara inspiration to become the Kazekage and if that isn’t big I don’t know what is considering they only needed one conversation to get to that point. Naruto became Gaara’s first friend. If not for Naruto, Gaara would have suffered his entire life in loneliness without making the bonds he eventually made, he would never have found purpose or a way in life.

Gaara actually explicitly says this when Kankuro speaks to him, in a flashback to before he was Kazekage. Gaara tells Kankuro that he didn’t believe he had a meaning in life until he met Naruto, who taught him that he could change his life, that there was still hope. Watch here:  . Prior to his fight with Naruto his belief was completely different, has he said to Naruto during their fight: “To them I’m simply an object from the past that they wish will disappear Then why do I exist? Why am I alive? When I thought about this I could find no answer. But as you live you need a reason otherwise it’s the same as being dead, I then came to this conclusion I exist to kill every human besides myself. Fighting only for yourself living while only loving yourself If you think that everybody else simply exist to allow you to experience that feeling nothing is better then that world. As long as there are people in this world for me to kill and continue to feel that joy of living my existence will not vanish.” You can see the difference in philosophy he gained from his fight with Naruto alone.

It goes even further during the Kazekage rescue arc where Naruto’s desire to rescue Gaara goes above and beyond, it takes priority over everything else instantly. In this arc we see Naruto’s perspective of Gaara and we see not only how much he understands Gaara but how much he loves him (whether platonically or romantically, it doesn’t matter, we can agree its love). Naruto is proud of Gaara for becoming Kazekage, even if a bit jealous. Moreover, he refuses to let Gaara go because despite his small jealousy his greater feelings towards Gaara is of someone who needs to be protected, someone who needs to be loved. He says this himself when he continuously talks about how Gaara is most alone, and compares himself to Gaara saying that Gaara always gets the short end of the stick. Naruto admits that over time he got people to care for him, but Gaara was alone all through. We don’t see Naruto understand any other character at the same level at this point in the manga – only Gaara.

Later on, Gaara becomes the only one to try to reach out to Sasuke aside from Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi – all members of team 7. He defends Sasuke and tries to reason with him, but makes it clear his first priority is Naruto. He tells Naruto that he considers him his friend – this is something Naruto needed to hear at that exact point in time. Naruto is angered after Gaara tells him to give up on Sasuke, and Gaara is momentarily taken aback by the rejection, but quickly comes to understand his bond with Sasuke better, and reinforces his own bond with Naruto by reminding him they are friends too – those words help Naruto to feel a little less alone when everyone around him is trying to kill his best friend. In doing so, they heal each other’s scars (admittedly, Naruto more for Gaara). Gaara even touches Naruto in a handshake near the end of the Kazekage arc, something rare as we rarely see Gaara touch anyone, he usually crosses his arms and avoids physical contact with people, his sand keeping everyone at a distance.

When confronted with Tobi, Gaara makes it clear he won’t let Tobi take Naruto – he doesn’t say “I won’t let you take the beasts.” Or “I won’t let you destroy the world.” He says “I won’t let you take Uzumaki Naruto!” To me, Gaara is saying Naruto is more important to him than the world, even though some argue that he’s just doing his job as Kazekage – I think it’s all about Naruto.

His speech to the Shinobi Alliance was beautiful and speaks volumes of his feelings for Naruto (again, whether platonic or romantic is unimportant, they’re still his feelings and just as valid). See this: 

In case you missed it, he says

“But one leaf ninja stopped me… He cried for me, his enemy. He called me friend even though we had fiercely battled each other! He saved me. We were on different sides but we were both jinchuriki. There can be no bad blood between those who have experienced the same pain…… …… That friend who saved me is now a target of our enemy! If he falls into their hands the world as we know it is finished. I want to protect that friend……”

If I didn’t know better he’s basically confessing his love here, placing Naruto above much else.

Ohh but it’s not over yet. During the war Gaara vehemently defends Naruto, even scolding him like a child when Naruto puts himself out there, putting himself in danger.

I’m always intrigued by the fact that Gaara doesn’t marry in chapter 700, what does that mean? I like to think he never got past Naruto and has a hard time trusting anyone else as much, save for his own siblings.

Gaara clearly cares a lot for Naruto and its reciprocated, Naruto cares a lot for Gaara. But it’s not just that they care about each other – it’s that they care about each other more than themselves, more than others (maybe not everyone, but certainly most people). It’s their deep respect and understanding of each other. It’s their shared love for the bonds they have, for the need to protect their loved ones, their need to bring peace and their potential as leaders. They are canonically amazing friends based on everything above, and if you can’t be amazing friends you probably can’t have a great romantic relationship either. Naruto and Gaara definitely could, they would be great for each other because of things that only the other could understand, and because they already love each other.