Looks:
Like Naruto, Gaara is a little shorter than the average males of his age which unlike Naruto, is due to the fact that he was born prematurely. He has pale skin and short, spiky hair that is brick-red. He has green eyes however; this colour has alternated somewhat during the series. In a flashback of his youth his eyes are depicted as light blue but for the majority of the series they are depicted as being green the pupils of which, are mostly invisible. Gaara has no distinctive eyebrows either. 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.[6]
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 containing his sand. He also wrapped his forehead protector over the band. In his childhood flashbacks, he was seen wearing beige poncho-like clothing with full-length blue trouser and a short-sleeved black t-shirt.
In the Sasuke Retrieval Arc, and in the final pre-Shippūden 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.
Personality:
While Gaara was once kind and had initially tried to be friendly towards others, despite their fear of him, Yashamaru's actions and words changed him. Realising that nobody loved him, Gaara used his sand to create the kanji on his forehead "love" (愛, ai), as a symbol of a "demon loving only himself", and to live up to his name, as what he believed Karura intended. Gaara became emotionally withdrawn, silent, and consumed with a bitter loathing for everyone but himself and "Mother": the voice of Shukaku in his head. He learned to find pleasure, and eventually a reason to live, in annihilating the numerous assassins sent to kill him – and, by extension, anyone who threatened his existence. This was only worsened by the occasional demand by Shukaku for blood to satisfy its blood lust, which resulted in Gaara being merciless, demonstrated when he murdered Baiu and Midare while ignoring their pleas. Gaara's insomnia, forced upon him by the fear that the demon inside him would eat away at him if he were to fall asleep, only furthered his instability and desire to kill. In fact, his hatred extends to his siblings, as he never saw them as such, and was fully willing to kill them were they to cross him.
Gaara's childhood was, in many ways, similar to Naruto Uzumaki's, though more unfortunate due to his lack of anyone to call a friend. Both were lonely and desired to be liked, loved, and acknowledged as an individual, free of others' prejudices — they were themselves, not the demons they were forced to "contain" — and both were driven into a desperate state. While Naruto consequently developed the misconception that pranks and mischief would bring him the attention he sought, Gaara came to the conclusion that he could preserve and confirm his own existence by killing any and all who challenged it, securing an extreme form of existentialism as his key personality trait. In the absence of others' acknowledgement, he could compensate by valuing only himself to the exclusion of everyone else. Furthermore, while Naruto eventually had Iruka Umino and Team Kakashi to acknowledge him, Gaara never had anyone to bond with, not even his father or siblings, as they all despised and feared Shukaku that dwells within him. The person who was closest to being friendly with Gaara was Yashamaru, who was ordered to act to betraying him, which turned Gaara into a lonely sociopath. As such, Gaara did not understand the concept of fighting for anything other than himself until his confrontation with Naruto.
After being defeated by Naruto, Gaara was shocked to find that Naruto knew very well the pain that Gaara had endured all his life. He was even more surprised that Naruto never gave up hope on being acknowledged as a person and ultimately found friends who truly cared for him. Seeing the determination that Naruto had to protect his friends made Gaara question his own path in life. Realising that he gave up too easily, Gaara decided to follow Naruto's path, wishing to become Kazekage of Sunagakure so he could be connected to his people, and hopefully have them finally acknowledge his existence as a person. Over the next few years, Gaara's determination to find happiness became apparent from his decision to rely on his own power rather than his inner demon's. Gaara eventually formed a close friendship with Naruto.
Since Gaara has become a close companion to Naruto, he has been able to change people's personalities towards him, such as Matsuri overpowering her fear of weapons, Ōnoki in the Five Kage Summit, persuaded practically the whole shinobi nation as a team before the war, and even Naruto himself when reflecting upon what he will choose to do as Sasuke's friend. This seems to be a similar trait from Naruto, a way of showing how he has changed from before. Not also that, but because of his close bond with Naruto, he has also been shown to throw away any such grudge or hatred against anyone, even including his father, who was responsible for making Gaara's childhood miserable. He admits to having forgiven his father for his actions a long time ago, but weeps openly after learning that his mother truly loved him very much and instead of cursing his existence vowed to protect him forever infusing this will into his sand.
Gaara cares deeply for Naruto and his well-being and goals, and despite Sasuke's actions during his assault at the Kage Summit and his status as an international criminal, he went far enough to attempt convincing Sasuke out of the darkness one more time on behalf of Naruto, and when unconvinced, even shed a tear for the failure Sasuke has gone into, and the disappointment Naruto will see. Despite respecting Naruto's goals, his care for him does not block his personal beliefs, and believes his friend's well-being is more important. Gaara bluntly tells Naruto that chasing after Sasuke is foolish, as he sees him no longer possible to return to the light. Though he defies Naruto's goal to bring Sasuke back, he only says this for Naruto's well-being because they are "friends".
