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 Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 6:38 am
 Warning:This post contains major spoilers I've decided to change the name of this thread, because the posters here have taught me that SasuNaru is indeed not overrated (that, however, is not to say my opinion of that pairing has changed) So, I've decided to make this thread completely focused on GaaraNaru now. Yes...Gaara and Naruto. Our junchuriki. These boys have drawn the short straw in life many times. Naruto can thank Gaara for showing him how his life could have turned out had he never known love and friendship, further enforcing his values. Gaara can thank Naruto for showing him that he could change for the better, because there was someone who knew the same pain as he did. With all this on the table, I find it odd that this pairing isn't given more attention. So I have had this thread re-opened, because this pairing needs some representation.As far as the pre timeskip goes, I believe people wouldn't have thought much of a GaaraNaru pairing because... well...Gaara was just a little crazy at the time. But nonetheless it shows that that Naruto and Gaara are forming a unique bond. One of the most profound images pertaining to Gaara's change in thought brought about by Naruto is after their first fight.  Notice the Leaf lying in a pile of sand 3nodding Doesn't Gaara sound determined that he will one day know what love is.One of the themes present in both the pre and post time skip is loneliness. Added to that is the theme of how profound an effect friendship can have on people. One of the reasons why Gaara is in the series in the first place is to illustrate that theme. Mostly in the sense that he shows the contrast between Naruto who eventually had friends and himself who was lonely nearly his entire life. It is clearly shown how much Naruto understands Gaara, and wants to help him alleviate that loneliness. One of the perks to the GaaraNaru pairing is that there is that whole 'pain and comfort' thing, which would make it easier for them to come together. As is the fact that understanding is one of the most important aspects in any relationship.
In the pretimeskip, the theme of understanding is shown in how much Naruto and Gaara are alike:
  It was that understanding that completely changed Gaara's life, because he knew he wasn't alone anymore. There is also something that goes beyond understanding here. It is forgiveness. Gaara never received an ounce of compassion in his entire life. That simple yet painful act of Naruto sympathizing him was enough to open Gaara's eyes to the good side of human nature.
In the time skip it goes even further. It is clear that Naruto is distraught over the thought of loosing Gaara, the only person in the world who could truly understand him. You could see his 'I'm going to get him back at all costs' mentality. Naruto does feel this for everyone. He even protects criminals in the fillers who he has only known for a day or so. But when it comes to Gaara his manner is different. He is impaitient and frankly wants to beat the stuffing out of Deidara as quickly as possible. Even to the point where Kakashi had to tell him to settle down or he would do something stupid. Naruto was to the point of irrational thinking when it came to getting Gaara back. The only other time he was this determined was when he was going after Sasuke. He even showed denial at the thought of Gaara being dead when he entered the cave and saw Gaara dead on the floor and yelled something along the lines of "Gaara, get the hell up. Stop lying on the floor and fight" even though he knew Gaara wasn't getting up.(this is the part where Gaara is dead and Chiyo can't bring him back because she doesn't have enough chakara, so Naruto asks if she can borrow his)    I also want to bring up that understanding is something Sasuke and Naruto never had. Naruto was the first person to treat Sasuke as an equal, as a friend, and not some prestigious Uchiha clan know-it-all. And how does Sasuke repay Naruto for it? By betraying him for power, and later on trying to kill him. That being said Naruto was also the first person to treat Gaara as a human and not a monster. And how does Gaara repay him? By deciding to adopt Naruto's dream of leading his people, and living a life that values friendship.
Gaara understood what Naruto was trying to teach him. Sasuke completely missed the point. One of the most tragic parts of the entire series is the fact that Naruto could convert a sociopathic, insane, shell of a human being and cause that person to become the leader of his country, but he couldn't even save his best friend. I want to bring up here that when Gaara was fighting Kimimaro he said to him flat out "You are being brainwashed and that's no way to live." And later he said to Lee that "Loneliness is the hardest thing to beat." This is important because it shows that though Gaara disapproves with Orochimaru's followers in that they let themselves be brainwashed, he also sympathizes with them. This is another instance where Naruto should get major props. Since he showed sympathy to Gaara, Gaara in turn could show it to others, even the villagers who once hated and cursed him. He died in the process of saving, and I find that pretty amazing.
(I'm also going to give Lee props for treating Gaara as a fellow ninja and not a monster, and for not holding a grudge against him. Sorry, I'm a total Lee fangirl too sweatdrop )
By now it is needless to say that Naruto compleatly changed Gaara's life, and I'm talking about a complete 180. Gaara saw Naruto as what he could aspire to be. In Naruto he saw a life that wasn't plagued by a selfish desire to love only himself. Again, he went from a selfish demon to a selfless martyr for his belief that purpose can be found in protecting people. Also, Gaara was willing to change. Sasuke wasn't. Naruto tried in vain to get him to stay in Konoha, but Sasuke was too driven by his own selfish ambition to care. If he really appreciated Naruto all that much, you think he would have listened to him. Why do you think Naruto got so strong in the first place? Because he fought for a noble cause, not by living out of hatred. Naruto proved that living out of hatred wasn't the way to achieve your goals because he did beat Gaara. And again...where was Sasuke during that fight? Maybe he should have payed more attention...
Then there is the part where Naruto and Chiyo bring Gaara back to life. It is actually symbolic of Gaara being reborn into a new phase of his life. And it's because of Naruto that that even happened. I could say more on this but I'm going to let these images speak for themselves because actions speak louder than words. Especially in the case of Gaara, who dosen't speak much at all:       Just look at Naruto's face. You can see the relief written on it that he didn't have to loose another friend.
The feelings present are also not one sided. Gaara said he owed a huge debt to Konoha, and he repaid it, not only by saving Lee's life but by showing Naruto how greatful he was. Imagine how Gaara feels about Naruto. Imagine what he is thinking as he looks at the person to whom he owes his purpouse in life. Even though Gaara dosen't show much facial expression, I think we all know that one the inside Gaara holds Naruto in higher regard than anyone else he had ever known. Naruto gave Gaara his life back. He gave him what should have been his but was denighed him. In a sense, Naruto did give Gaara the love he so rightly deserved. :    If that isn't a bond I don't know what is wink This is also the ony instance in the series where Gaara reached out to touch another person.So yeah, that's my uber-long rant on the GaaraNaru pairing. I got all these images from www.narutochaos.com I do expect some diehard SasuNaru fans to disagree with me, and my point wasn't to bash the SasuNaru pairing, I just wanted to show that the GaaraNaru pairing is underrated. If you're going to quote this, then don't quote the images (I've stretched the page enough. sweatdrop
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 12:32 pm
that is true, gaanaru is very underrated, and, unsurprisingly, i luf that pairing, but,... i haven't read the time skip yet.i am reading naru at this site, come join me if you wish
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 1:23 pm
I'm not going to disagree with you because I get where you're coming from. I'm a huge fan of SasuNaru, but kudos for pointing out what really annoys the crap out of me with this pairing -- that Sasuke completely missed what Naruto was trying to make him understand. I'm happy that Gaara did not.
I think that Sasuke has a lot of growing to do, still, and because of that he gets a lot of hate from fans who are tired of his emo behavior. I'm one of them. But I like the fandom for SasuNaru because a lot of it brings out the "old" Sasuke per-se, and I like that Sasuke.
I think Gaara/Naruto is a really likeable pairing because they're resolved. Gaara put forth the understanding that Sasuke didn't, and thus there's no more sole searching he really needs to do, which makes room for more fluff. Fluff is great =)
With Sasuke, he may or may not come out of this like Gaara did, and for now we're still waiting on that. Because of it the canon universe is completely filled with angst when it comes to them, and that can be and is annoying.
I started out as a SasuNaru fan the same way I start out with all my ships -- I noticed who had the most chemistry first and went with it. Gaara was unlucky because his appearance came after Sasuke's did, so SasuNaru became my favorite. Luck of the draw =/
Still, the fandom makes both pairings fluffy more often than not, and that's good enough for me. =3
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 3:09 pm
I swear Naruto can relate and go with anybody. stare He's a recyclable uke. Lol... sweatdrop Okay lame joke.
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 3:50 pm
SelenaxKurashina I swear Naruto can relate and go with anybody. stare He's a recyclable uke. Lol... sweatdrop Okay lame joke.
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 5:35 pm
Kerii-chan SelenaxKurashina I swear Naruto can relate and go with anybody. stare He's a recyclable uke. Lol... sweatdrop Okay lame joke. yeah but can you find 20 pages worth of hints that point to Naruto going with Neji...
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 8:12 pm
King_Cicero_IV yeah but can you find 20 pages worth of hints that point to Naruto going with Neji... Hey now. Canon hints are nice, but they arn't the be all and end all of a pairing. The change of any of this ever becoming canon is so small as to be non existant. Let us all agree that all pairings are equal. Some of them are just better represented in the source. xd But yeah, I really like Gaara & Naruto as a pairing. Thre's a level of understanding there that isn't present with Sasuke and Naruto. It's a nice piece of common ground. And Gaara, for all that he was crazy nutso, gets over himself and actualy becomes quite reasonable. I like the idea of Naruto helping him grow towards a better self.
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Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 4:38 pm
I love both pairings but I lean more to the narusasu pairing then the gaanaru pairing.
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 7:42 am
GaaNaru is, indeed, love surprised But SasuNaru isn't overrated surprised I love them both~
But I'd have to agreeb that there is a special bond that Gaara and Naruto share that Sasuke could never hope to be includedin, but Naruto, being the main character, seems to have some kind of bond with a little bit of everyone ^^;;
Don't get me wrong, I RP regularly as Naruto and do both NaruGaaNaru and SasuNaruSasu, so I think they're both amazing biggrin
~Lyn
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 8:21 am
Okay, I agree with you that it's pretty obvious there's something going on with Naruto and Gaara, but Naru/Sas was my first yaoi pairing, and I really like them as one, so I think I'll keep mine. biggrin
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Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 1:09 pm
I just love them together heart ____ heart Gaara is so unstable in the beginnning and when naruto see's that he could have been like that if he hadn't had that one person to care about him(Iruka) it's devestating to him. They just seem drawn to eachother, their so much alike yet so very different. Their perfect for eachother. Gaara gets Naruto to show his true self behind the smiling mask and Naruto gets to see a side of Gaara no one's ever seen before. *smiles* Thats why this is the ideal couple in naruto. I mean I love SasuNaru but Gaara/Naruto is my top favorite. It wasn't at first but I just can't get away from it! And even if I wanted to I couldn't *nod* *nod*
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Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 8:56 pm
Well garra and naruto is cute but I think Sasuke and Naruto is Hott. lol. sorry but i really like that pairing and I just think there more better together. I don't know it's just me. hehe. well anyways I love garra to but Sasuke is my fav for life. mrgreen
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Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 7:46 am
Yeah...and I also would like to add that Gaara is like 10 times sexier than Sasuke (that's just my opinion...don't get all mad now)
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 10:51 am
*reposts entire post from the thread in the Naruto Yaoi Polls Guild* Chieira ^^; Actually, there are not more GaaNaru hints after the timeskip; I admit that there are some, but not more than SasuNaru (or, technically, NaruSasu). You have to take into account the Sai issue (Naruto actually yelling out that Sasuke is much better looking than Sai), along with Naruto's obsession with Sasuke. He literally freaks out just from hearing Sakura say Sasuke's name when Sasuke shows up. He hears it, runs to where she is, actually tripping in his haste, and he and Sasuke have this long moment of them staring at each other. You get the whole Sasuke getting MUCH closer than he really needs to for the fight, then after it's over, Naruto has spent basically all of the manga since then angsting over Sasuke. ^^; No offense, but Gaara has not crossed his mind once. You also have the scene where Naruto is supposed to be sleeping after a day of training, and he's staring at the stars and thinks about Sasuke. I actually dragged my straight male friend over to my computer just to show him that part and say, "How gay is THAT?" His exact words were, "What? I don't know how many times I've stared at the stars, clutched at my heart, and whispered another man's name. ...Okay, nevermind." I know I'm forgetting some of the hints, there are a lot more that I've shown to friends. There's also the time when Sakura yells at Kabuto something like, "You know nothing about Naruto's feelings!" when referring to how Naruto feels about Sasuke. Anyway, I'll proudly admit that I am NOT a Gaara fan, and therefore am not a GaaNaru fan. Sure, I thought the hints in the manga were cute (yes, I do recognize that they're there), because I like pretty much ANY yaoi hints in a manga, but I've just seen more SasuNaru, I'm sorry. And I'm an ItaSasu fangirl, so my dislike for Gaara is really my only bias. I'd much rather see ItaSasu hinting than SasuNaru, but the SasuNaru is what's there. So, basically, yes there have been lots of GaaNaru hints in the manga since the timeskip, but, I'm sorry, there really have been more SasuNaru. You just have to take into account the fact that Naruto spends a good deal of the time after the timeskip angsting over Sasuke. ^^; He really is obsessed. If you take his angsting as hinting, which most people would (if he was angsting over Gaara, wouldn't you take that as GaaNaru hinting?), then you have to see that basically most of the timeskip IS SasuNaru hints. ::EDIT:: Also, while your argument that you posted a link to is very good, to make your claim that there is more GaaNaru after the timeskip legitimate, you would need to also (honestly) post all the instances of SasuNaru after the timeskip, and compare the two. Otherwise, it's very biased ^^; You're only showing your side, without actually proving it by comparing the amounts of GaaNaru to the amounts of SasuNaru. And I just HAVE to add in a quote from the latest chapter. "*sad smile* So I've got the right affinity for Sasuke..." -Naruto "Right, only wind can beat lightning." -Yamato "No, I mean... the only thing that can save a fire from dying and give it more power... is wind." -Naruto
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Posted: Fri Dec 01, 2006 10:24 pm
It's true that since Sasuke's betrayal my opinions have changed a little bit, I think he is so blind to not see the truth but anyways I like the idea of Gaara/Naruto together they understand each other and I could seriously see them them in a long lasting relationship other than sas/nar together. Don't get me wrong I still love nar/sas pairing but from cannon and the time skip I can totally see them two together. I just wish that Sasuke would have stayed the same but oh well..its not such heartwrenching to me like hp #6 and s.s betrayal but thats another story!
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