Gaara sat listening to the prattling of old men who would like to send out young men to fight in a war that no longer concerns them. If Naruto, the Hokage of Konoha, wanted or needed Gaaras help well he would help him, but word has not reached him so he would try his best to keep Sunas best out of the war.
The people have come to love Gaara Sabaku. He became the fifth Kazekage at the age of 15, he lost Shukaku at 19, and now at 23 his village has prospered, and his people have come to respect him for letting Sunas sons and daughters to stay out of the war effort.
Suna has become the second largest village under Gaara; their military is on par with Konohas, and they have become completely self-sufficient. Gaara did this because he wanted his people to respect him, not fear him.
Truth be told, he missed Shukaku, the racoon demon was the closest thing he ever had to a parent, in their final years Shukaku had given him much advice, and most of it was usually good. So when Gaara was brought back at the expense of his grandmother, he had made a group of 8 ANBU operatives and sent them on a mission to find Shukaku, he knew they had sealed Shukaku, but he wouldn't let them use him to destroy everything.
It had been four years since they set out in search of Shukaku, and in that time many things had changed. The Akatsuki had gained immense power, Orochimaru had been defeated, Sasuke had been killed by Itachi, and Gaara had become almost as powerful as he had when he weilded Shukaku.
Now here he sat, listening to old men ramble on about how Gaara needed to join the war with Konoha and help fight the Akatsuki, but Gaara wanted Suna to raise to greater heights before throwing everything at the Akatsuki, which was something these old men didn't understand.
If he decided to go all in now most who left with him would not return.
Gaara did not want to return to Suna by himself, but most of these old men did not realize that was what the situation had come to.
Naruto was heading the war effort against the Akatsuki and word was coming back to Suna that Narutos forces had been pushed back all the way to Konoha.
Gaara was not a happy person. Not by any means. His reason for being unhappy was not a simple one anymore. It used to be the way he was treated by people, he was feared and hated by everyone, everyone but Naruto Uzumaki. The blonde haired man was the first person to treat Gaara like a person instead of a weapon.
Since becoming Kazekage and actually making a few friends his life had taken a turn for the better, until he died. He was beaten because he could not unleash his full power or risk the entire village. He was beaten by another blonde haired blue-eyed man, and that was the second time he had ever been treated with respect.
Deidara was the second person to show him any amount of respect. Though in the end Deidara was the reason Gaara died; Gaara never forgot that. It stayed with him all these years and it dawned on him, that he is attracted to the the blonde man. It ate away at what was left of his heart for years.
He was in love with the man who killed him.