Naruto is a show about a knucklehead ninja of the same name who dreams about becoming the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf. Naruto was unlucky as he had to face numerous obstacles before he even got close to his dream.
Like Naruto, there are several other characters who have incredibly tough luck, which made them go through a lot of bad situations. The characters in the anime or manga series endured a lot of suffering, with some of them getting a sort of respite towards the end. However, not everyone in Naruto was lucky enough to have a good life.
8 Tsunade
Tsunade Senju is a part of the Legendary Sannin of the Hidden Leaf. She is an expert medical ninja and she has been responsible for saving countless lives. Tsunade's strength allowed her to fight against Madara Uchiha, who complimented her abilities.
However, Tsunade is a very unlucky character. She almost always loses money in gambling, which landed her an epithet. Tsunade also lost her loved ones — Nawaki in an explosion, Dan Kato during the Second Great Ninja War, and then later she also lost Jiraiya to Pain.
7 Obito Uchiha
A kind child who would always help others, Obito played an important role in making Kakashi realize the importance of comradery. However, Obito's life drastically changed when the cave collapsed on the right side of his body.
Obito was taken in by Madara, who manipulated and used him to further his own ambitions. Obito had to witness Rin's death, and then he had to fight his best friend in the Fourth Great Ninja War. Eventually, he was killed by Kaguya Otsutsuki.
6 Naruto Uzumaki
Naruto is the main protagonist of the anime, and he is currently the strongest ninja in the series. However, his life has not been a smooth ride. Naruto had to grow up without his parents.
Detested by the villagers, Naruto was alone for the most part of his childhood. He finally found a best friend in Sasuke, who left Naruto to the village, leading to the protagonist being left on his own again. Later on, Naruto lost his mentor, Jiraiya, who was killed by Pain.
5 Gaara
Gaara is the Kazekage of the Hidden Sand and one of Naruto's closest friends. He lost his mother at a very young age, and his father only considered Gaara a potential weapon. He was only cared for by his uncle, but Rasa ordered Gaara's uncle to kill him.
When Gaara found out the assassin's identity, he was flabbergasted. He could not believe that his uncle would try to hurt him. This incident left Gaara in extreme distress and it wasn't until he met Naruto that he began to live like a human again.
4 Itachi Uchiha
A prodigy of the Uchiha Clan, Itachi had a lot of pressure on his shoulders. Itachi grew up to become one of the strongest ninjas in the series. He was faced with the dilemma of choosing between his clan or the Hidden Leaf, and Itachi decided to choose the latter.
Itachi had to murder his entire clan including his parents. Then he had to forcefully make Sasuke hate him, which resulted in a completely different mess. Itachi's life was filled with sadness and even moments before his death, he was unable to tell Sasuke the truth.
3 Nawaki
Nawaki was the younger brother of Tsunade. He dreamt of becoming the Hokage one day and he was putting great effort towards his dream. Nawaki came off as a promising ninja, who would be able to accomplish the dream.
However, Nawaki was not destined to realize his dream. Just a day after his birthday, when he had shared his dream of becoming the Hokage with Tsunade, Nawaki ran into an explosive trap, which immediately killed him. According to Orochimaru, Nawaki's body was so heavily damaged that it became unrecognizable.
2 Madara Uchiha
Madara Uchiha served as the leader of the Uchiha clan during the Warring States Period. During his early days, Madara had become extremely good friends with Hashirama, however, when their parents found out about the friendship, they had to go their separate ways.
Madara lost all his siblings, the position of Hokage was stolen from him, and even his own clan members abandoned him. He was also manipulated by Black Zetsu; when Madara became the jinchuriki of the Ten-Tails, Black Zetsu betrayed and killed him. Thus, bringing Madara's life to a close.
1 Kakashi Hatake
After the conclusion of the Fourth Great Ninja War, Kakashi was named the Sixth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf. Although often coming across as quite carefree, Kakashi's life has been riddled with tragedies. He lost his father, who committed suicide and then Kakashi had to live by himself.
Kakashi thought that he lost Obito during the Third Great Ninja War, and he had to live with the guilt of being responsible for Rin's death. Things continued to get worse for Kakashi as he lost teacher, Minato during the attack of Nine-Tails. Kakashi couldn't prevent Sasuke from leaving the Hidden Leaf. Worst of all, he found out that his best friend, Obito was responsible for starting the Fourth Great Ninja War.