Naruto is a story of a young boy, Naruto Uzumaki, with lofty dreams who aims to make history by fighting against his destiny. The author, Masashi Kishimoto, is known to be incredibly skilled at writing deep character stories.
As such, Naruto has a plethora of characters with incredible writing. While some infuriate the fans, others manage to move them to tears. Here are some of the best character stories in Masashi Kishimoto's magnum opus.
8 Jiraiya
Jiraiya started his journey as a ninja with limited talent, however, he held the potential to become great. Unlike his peers, he wasn't a genius, yet he managed to reach great heights by training. Jiraiya's story is one of perseverance. Throughout his life, he had failed at the many tasks that he set out to do. Jiraiya failed to save his friend, Orochimaru, when he left the village. He failed to save his student, Minato, and then couldn't save his master, Hiruzen. Jiraiya even failed the Ame orphans he once saved.
However, despite that, he kept fighting till the end. Even in death, Jiraiya continued to struggle and eventually played a massive role in saving the world by shaping Naruto to be the man he is today.
7 Madara Uchiha
Madara is yet another brilliant character written by Kishimoto. He grew up on the battlefield learning the trade of war. To him, his family, especially his brothers, were his most important bond. Yet, Madara lost them one by one. His goal was to create a place where children wouldn't have to die, the same as Hashirama.
However, seeing the prejudice in the village that the two created, Madara sought a better world. Manipulated by Black Zetsu, he ended up working towards the wrong goal for the wrong reasons. While Madara's conclusion was marred by Kishimoto, at heart, he was a character who wanted true peace.
6 Pain
Pain is one of the most compelling characters in Kishimoto's Naruto. The character itself was born as a result of war and bloodshed. The several wars that were fought in the common battleground of Amegakure forced the birth of Pain. Just like many others, Pain simply wanted equality and peace. However, only by making others experience the same pain as him would he truly be satisfied.
In his heart, he wanted justice and peace but only by making others understand his Pain did he think it was possible. In the end, he was moved by Naruto's words and chose to put all his trust in him, giving his life up for the sake of the better.
5 Itachi Uchiha
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Itachi is a brilliant character in more than one way. He was a pacifist from a very young age and, all his life, he attempted to protect his village and put an end to all wars. Yet, he was forced to make some of the most horrendous choices in the entire show. To protect the village, he had to murder his entire clan. To save his brother, he had to drag his own name through the dirt.
Itachi was even forced to join the Akatsuki and spy on them just for the sake of the village. All this was done from the shadows while his name was getting sullied. He lived his life for the village, however, more than that, he lived his life for his brother. Eventually, he met his end at his brother's hands, and, to him, this was the price to pay for everything that he had done to make him suffer.
4 Gaara
Gaara was written by Kishimoto to be a monster at first. However, in this character, Kishimoto showed that he was made into one by his father and only longed for a helping hand. Gaara was turned into a Jinchuriki at birth. Stripped off his childhood, Gaara made no friends and had no allies.
His own family feared him and anyone who came close to him suffered. To make things worse, Gaara couldn't even sleep at night due to the terrible curse that his father had put on him. He was made to realize that he was unlovable and unapproachable. Consequently, his heart filled with darkness and a thirst for bloodshed. However, after Naruto reached out to him, Gaara saw that there was a light ahead. Grabbing that light, he turned his life upside down and became a lovable character with great friends and a family.
3 Obito Uchiha
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Obito is quite a tragic character who made a number of wrong choices in his life. Although he started with a dream to become the Hokage, losing the love of his life in Rin made him lose all sense of semblance. Obito chose the wrong path just so he could create a world where Rin was alive and Kakashi was as he wanted him to be.
Obito worked towards the goal of achieving peace through the Infinite Tsukuyomi. He killed his teacher, along with his wife, and then plunged the world into utter chaos. At the point of no return, Obito did what he could do to make amends. He saved Naruto and, in the end, sacrificed his life for the greater good in an attempt to make up for what he did. While Obito could never be fully redeemed, his story arc was still great.
2 Sasuke Uchiha
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Sasuke is one of the best-written characters in Kishimoto's Naruto. As an Uchiha, Sasuke had greatness thrust upon him and he spent the majority of his childhood in his brother's shadow. However, after the Uchiha Clan tragedy, he was forced to grow up for the sole purpose of revenge. Sasuke thirsted for power and eventually cut off all his bonds for this reason.
Finding out the truth about his brother only made darkness consume him more. He became a feared criminal and made an enemy out of nearly everyone but Naruto. After realizing the true meaning of being a ninja and more importantly, realizing that Naruto looked at him as his brother, Sasuke finally came to his senses and, has, since then, living his life to help Naruto.
1 Naruto Uzumaki
The protagonist of the series, Naruto Uzumaki is a brilliantly written character. Naruto's entire being is about conquering one's greatest weaknesses. As a child, he was alienated by everyone, and having a Tailed Beast inside him only made things worse for him. While this beast had a lot of power, using it every time did more harm to him than good. Not only did it harm his own body but it also harmed those around him.
Naruto had no skill, however, he did have a heart full of guts, and using that, he conquered every single weakness of his. He took on his master's burden of finding true peace and managed to achieve that by the end of the series. Even the mass of hatred, Kurama, was conquered by him with nothing more than kindness and understanding. Naruto's character stayed true to itself to the very end and his warm and bright personality made him the greatest Shinobi to ever live.