Characters Who Came To Respect Naruto

Summary

• Naruto’s determination to become Hokage stems from a desire to prove his worth and protect the villagers.
• Naruto’s actions and battles throughout the series lead key characters like Tsunade, Neji, Gaara, and Nagato to respect him.
• From earning the respect of his inner beast Kurama to gaining Sasuke’s acknowledgment, Naruto’s journey is about earning respect.

At the very beginning of the Naruto anime series, the star of the show himself comes across as a no-good punk who enjoys nothing more than playing pranks on villagers and vandalizing the buildings of Konoha. This is already a pretty big reason for people not to respect him, but another is because within Naruto resides a ferocious beast known as the Nine-Tailed Fox, which obliterated the village only a few years before the series began.

This is a major reason why Naruto wants to become the Hokage in the first place, so he can prove his worth to the villagers, and ultimately, earn their respect as someone who is willing to lead and protect them from danger. Naruto had to embark on a very long journey before reaching that highly prestigious position, though, and throughout that adventure, due to his determination and underlying fiery passion for being a ninja, he came to earn the acknowledgment and respect of numerous individuals who, initially, weren’t too fond of him.

8

Tsunade

The Fifth Hokage Comes To Respect Naruto’s Determination And Strength Not Long After They Meet

• First Appearance: Episode 83

Tsunade and Naruto don’t exactly get along all that well when they first meet in the original series. After Naruto and Jiraiya pay a visit to Tsunade in an attempt to convince her to become the Fifth Hokage, the powerful Sannin seems less than happy about the idea and begins going on a verbal tirade about how useless and pointless the Hokage actually are — in her opinion, at least. Inevitably, this gets Naruto’s blood boiling, with the two sharing a pretty frosty relationship to begin with.

Once Tsunade is confronted by Kabuto, though, it’s Naruto who decides to step in to protect her, and despite Tsunade criticizing him for learning the sacred Rasengan technique before this battle, this is the ability the cheeky ninja uses to defeat Kabuto once and for all. Thanks to Naruto’s unwavering loyalty to protecting others, Tsunade begins to view the status of Hokage, and the young ninja himself, in a very different light.

7

Neji

The Snobby “Genius” Receives A Much-Needed Wake-Up Call From Naruto

• First Appearance: Episode 21

Naruto and Neji’s epic duel back in the Chunin Exams is an extremely underrated fight which really shines because of the underlying themes that lie at the core of it. Neji, seeing himself as a naturally gifted genius, looks down on Naruto, and tries to convince him that a knucklehead like himself could never even dream of one day becoming Hokage, especially since he’s not one of the “pre-determined select few” who have been chosen to take on the role.

Rather than letting Neji’s cruel words distract him, though, Naruto decides to get creative, using Shadow Clones to throw Neji off his game before eventually landing one hell of an uppercut. Naruto knocked some sense into Neji in this fight, forcing him to snap out of his delusional mindset, and for that, Neji would also act respectfully towards Naruto from then on, right up until his final moments.

6

Gaara

The Fellow Jinchuriki Looks Back Fondly On Naruto For Helping him Deal With His Dark Mental State

• First Appearance: Episode 20

With his mother dying in childbirth, and his inner Shukaku beast threatening to take him over, Gaara grew up to be a pretty cold and sadistic individual who came to hate the world and everyone in it. Unlike Naruto, who was striving to earn the respect of others, despite being a Jinchuriki, Gaara took a different road and became obsessed with destruction and suffering.

Because of his dark and twisted mindset, Naruto meant nothing to Gaara when the two first met, but his perception gradually started to change throughout the course of their battle after the Chunin Exams were rudely interrupted. By reaching out his hand to Gaara and assuring him that he was not alone, Gaara started to grow and mature, and as he makes clear much later on in his fight with Sasuke, he will always hold a lot of respect for the ninja who helped him gain a clearer and more positive mindset.

5

Nagato

Naruto Makes The Choice To End The Cycle Of Vengeance, Much To The Surprise Of Nagato

• First Appearance: Shippuden Episode 128

While the Six Paths of Pain are the primary enemies Naruto focuses on during the Pain Invasion arc, he soon comes to uncover that the person pulling the strings behind the scenes of the attack was actually Nagato. This former student of Jiraiya seeks to teach the world “true pain” so that everyone in the ninja world would essentially be forced to submit and live peacefully.

This comes from Nagato’s belief that the ninja world has been thrust into a dangerous and endless cycle of vengeance, where wars and conflicts will continue occurring no matter what. Naruto, despite having every reason to kill Nagato, including the fact that he killed his mentor Jiraiya, decides to spare him, opening Nagato’s eyes to the fact that maybe the cycle really can end if there are more hopeful people in the world like Naruto.

4

Iruka

Iruka Witnessed Naruto Go From Stubborn And Lonely Punk To A True Symbol Of Heroism

• First Appearance: Episode 1

Despite his family being killed by the Nine-Tailed Fox, Iruka is one of the only villagers at the beginning of the story who shows any kind of generosity towards Naruto. One thing he doesn’t respect, though, is Naruto’s rotten attitude in the academy, and more specifically, his unwillingness to learn and grow up as a ninja. Over the course of the story, Naruto begins to realize he needs to pull his socks up if he has any chance of becoming Hokage, and this certainly doesn’t go unnoticed by Iruka.

By the time Naruto defeats Pain after his training at Mount Myoboku to become a Sage, Iruka can be seen in the background with a huge smile across his face. Clearly, he’s come to respect just how far Naruto has pushed himself to protect the village, and though he’s always had love for the ninja, he would come to greatly admire his newfound work ethic and attitude.

3

Jiraiya

Jiraiya Was Greatly Impressed By Naruto’s Willingness To Learn And Grow Stronger

• First Appearance: Episode 52

Just because Jiraiya probably realized that Naruto was the Fourth’s son upon meeting him doesn’t inherently mean he had great respect for the youngster. In fact, Jiraiya seems rather dismissive of Naruto when they first begin training together, being more focused on sneaking into women’s bathhouses than helping the ninja grow stronger. When he tasks Naruto with learning the Rasengan and a Summon technique, he can usually be seen ignoring him and seems less than impressed by his power.

However, Naruto managed to win over the legendary Sannin by putting in as much work and training as he possibly could to become the strong and reliable ninja he had always dreamed of. Though Jiraiya was unexpectedly removed from the story after a fateful battle with Pain, his final words show how much he warmed up to his plucky student over time.

2

Kurama

It Takes A Long While Before Naruto’s Inner Beast Starts To Warm Up To Him

• First Appearance: Episode 1

It usually takes quite a bit of time before a Tailed Beast truly acknowledges and supports their host, and in the case of Naruto and Kurama, it would be many years before the two saw eye to eye. Kurama held a strong grudge against the Fourth Hokage for sealing him inside of Naruto, with the restless beast coming to despise his new host, despite knowing barely anything about him.

After witnessing Naruto’s determination and strength, though, Kurama eventually begins to respect Naruto as someone worthy of harnessing the immense power of the Nine-Tailed Fox. While Naruto had always wanted to earn the respect of the village, little did he know that he would first need to earn it from his own inner beast as part of the journey.

1

Sasuke Uchiha

After A Long And Grueling Journey, Sasuke Finally Acknowledges Naruto’s Power And Loyalty To His Friends

• First Appearance: Episode 1

Though Sasuke does seem to develop some kind of respect for Naruto early on in the series, especially after Naruto protects him during the fight with Haku, his obsession with getting revenge on Itachi quickly warps his mind, leading him down a very dark path. As a result of this, he would begin to see Naruto as little more than a roadblock, but once Sasuke joins in with the final war, he comes to realize that Naruto isn’t all that bad after all.

When teaming up with him to defeat Kaguya, Sasuke shows that he holds a great respect for Naruto’s power, and after the two go blow-for-blow at the Valley of End, Sasuke decides, finally, to put his stubbornness aside. After the war ends, Sasuke comes to respect not only how far Naruto has come, but also the lengths he was willing to go to in order to save him from becoming completely corrupted by darkness.