Sand

As the jinchūriki of the One-Tailed Shukaku, Gaara acquired the ability to manipulate sand through the beast. While Gaara is capable of controlling any sand, he keeps in his gourd, also made from this sand. This sand is infused with his chakra, allowing him to make faster and more powerful attacks, as well as being used to make his Shield of Sand. Due to the number of people Gaara has killed, the sand smells of blood as noted by Kiba. It was also noted by both Gaara's father and uncle that the sand would always protect Gaara, because it has his mother's will in it.

The sand can be countered to some degree by things which make it heavier, such as mixing it with gold, or in the anime, by making it wet.

Other Uses

 * Kankurō used sand to disguise his puppets, allowing him make his puppets appear as another person, or as himself, to trick enemies into attacking his puppets instead of him.
 * In the Anime, Sasori could also use sand to make clones of himself as shown when he used one to escape from Black Ant.