Can Gaara Survive Without Sleep? So Gaara couldn't sleep, because Shukaku was inside of him, hence his dark circle eyes. There was that guy who went crazy after trying to stay awake for 11 days for his science project. So how could Gaara function properly, let alone fight?

Evidence from Narutopedia


  During their first conversation when Gaara was a child, Shukaku warned Gaara that it would take control of his body and start killing people if he ever fell asleep
I'm actually pretty sure that gaara did sleep sometimes.

It's explained that when the host of shukaku falls asleep, shukaku slowly, key word slowly, eats away at that individuals personality and psyche. This is part of the reason that gaara is so unstable, because he DOES sleep sometimes, and when he does shukaku starts devouring his mind.