Death
Death can come quickly or slowly and can be caused by many things
Heart attacks and being crushed by one of Gaara's sand burials are relatively quick deaths
They come and go in the blink of an eye
The pain is brief before death arrives
Those are some of the most merciful deaths
Other deaths are far worse however
Having a tailed beast extracted from you is one of the worst ways to die
Three days full of agony aren't what one would call pleasant after all
But the lives of demon hosts are painful as well
Most are shunned and hated
And some must even deal with countless assassins
So death may seem like a welcome release for some of them
Other drawn out deaths are not welcome in the least
Poison and disease cause much suffering before they run their course
Both destroy their victims from the inside
They can affect the victims for mere hours or many years
But they always take a heavy toll
Their victims must suffer through their lives fading away
What fades first is always different
From balance to sight, almost anything can fade away into nothingness
The worst deaths always start small
Vision may blur slightly for example
But they escalate into worse problems over time
Such as near blindness and a need for countless pills in order to survive
Physical death at least offers a better end most of the time
Hell is the exception
But souls who lived well have more pleasant things to look forward to
Whether it is heaven or eternal darkness nobody knows
But at least it offers peace
Internal death is far worse
It too starts small
A few insults can get it started
But it takes traumatizing events to make it last long
One simple betrayal has the potential to cause internal death
Emotions wilt and fade away
Or they vanish suddenly
However fast, emotions die out
But both external and internal death can be cured
It only takes a jutsu and perhaps a sacrifice or two to end external death
But internal death's cures are more common
Sadly, it is not always administered on time if at all
Time and love can cure internal death
Time doesn't always work though and it almost always needs large doses
Love is a far more effective cure
Though it generally works, it is not as easy to come by as time
Though there is much love in the world
It is not always given to those who need it
Even after six long years without feeling it
Love still did the trick for Gaara
All he needed was to see a world with love in it
Then he could love it as he had before the assassination attempts started
Though the world took its time loving him back
His happiness was brought back to life in all of its glory
For internal death to be cured
The victim must be willing to accept the cure
Without that willingness, the victim's whole soul will be consumed by hate
Until it is as black and evil as the cause of its death
And beyond hope of redemption
Though external death can cure internal death as well
By surrounding the black soul in matching eternal darkness
Or by sending it to Hell
Where it still has a slim chance of learning of its mistakes
Until it rights its wrongs and returns to paradise
While internal death brings war to the soul
And makes its victim desire the death of themselves or others
External death offers eternal peace for all
Because even those who are brought back from it
Must return to it in the end
All anyone has to do is accept it
Whether it is their own death or the death of a loved one
In order to find eternal internal peace