Before he was born, Gaara's father, the Fourth Kazekage Rasa, had Chiyo make Gaara into the Jinchuriki for the tailed beast while he was still in his mother's womb before she died giving birth to him. Though believed at the time to be Shukaku's power in action, Gaara can manipulate sand, which subconsciously protects him. Rasa intended to use Gaara as the village's personal weapon, but Shukaku's bloodlust proved too much for Gaara as he suffered night terrors brought about by the tailed beast's influence. With Gaara's sand adding to his inability to control Shukaku, the boy became feared to the point his father decided to have him assassinated. Gaara has the belief that he could only rely upon himself and Shukaku, after Yashamaru, the only person who he thought loved him tried to kill him, on the order of his father, and that he had to kill others in order to confirm the value of his own existence. He thus became narcissistic, even permanently scarring his left temple with the kanji for for his new drive.