Board Thread:Naruto Discussions/@comment-26477744-20150608194135/@comment-2140588-20150608194622

Vulcan1997 wrote: Garra was born with dark skin around his eyes because he was pre-mature when he was born. And this was done purely design-wise, as the black markings are reminiscent of a Tanuki (and Shukaku is based off of a Tanuki).

Same as how Naruto has whiskers. This is basically a design choice.