Naruto Uzumaki's childhood was filled with questionable moments from the moment he was born. Not only was a world-ending demon sealed within him as an infant, but he was also an orphan left to his own devices as he grew up. Then, he was turned into a child soldier where he fought to perpetuate the village that took advantage of him.
From serious child neglect to broken promises and to having adult after adult manipulate him at every turn, Naruto's childhood made many fans raise their eyebrows in disapproval.
10 Kakashi Promised To Look After Naruto But Only Showed Up When Naruto Became A Ninja
When Minato and Kushina entrusted their infant son, Naruto Uzumaki, to Kakashi Hatake, they probably did not expect Kakashi to almost immediately leave Naruto at the mercy of the Third Hokage and to grow up on his own.
Sure, Kakashi kept his promise, but only once Naruto had become a Genin and effectively a child soldier. Kakashi kept Naruto alive, but he certainly did not help him through his pre-ninja years.
9 Hiruzen Neglected Naruto & Just Threw Money At Him
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, had multiple sons, but no one would be able to tell by the way he "raised" Naruto. Being a ward of the Hidden Leaf Village, no one was looking out for him on a day-to-day basis.
Instead, Hiruzen gave Naruto an apartment of his own (as a child) and trusted him to buy his groceries and cook his food as a thirteen-year-old kid with no memory of a parental figure. How Naruto survived to adulthood is a wonder.
8 Everyone Hated Naruto & Would Not Tell Him Why
Naruto always suspected there was something about him that made everyone hate him, but no one ever told him what that was. Only very few of the kids at the academy associated with Naruto, but none of them knew why everyone hated Naruto. Yet, they went along with it.
When Naruto grew up, it took the village forever to finally tell him about the nine-tailed fox, and it took even longer for him to learn about his parents. Sure, keeping Kurama secret had its benefits, but there was no reason not to tell Naruto, at least once he got a little older.
7 No One Thought To Talk About His Parents
The village leaders also kept Naruto's family a secret from him, and their reason for doing so was to keep him from being targeted by enemies. This makes no sense because he was going to be targeted for being the Jinchuriki, anyway. As soon as the Akatsuki became involved, there was no reason not to tell him about his parents.
Furthermore, the idea that giving him the Namikaze surname would have made him more of a target than the Uzumaki name is flawed, as the Uzumaki's had long since been targeted and it was common knowledge amongst the main villains that the Uzumaki were often Jinchuriki.
6 Everyone Expected A Kid To Be Able To Cook For Himself
Putting aside Naruto's love of Ichiraku Ramen, there was no forethought on how a child who never had any mother or father figure to teach him how to cook would be able to learn how to make food for himself every night. Then, to make matters worse, everyone makes fun of Naruto for constantly eating instant ramen.
Since he is only really used to ramen as a staple meal, and as he probably cannot cook properly on his own, it is no wonder Naruto is always too eager to eat at Ichiraku Ramen.
5 He Was Made A Ninja With Absolutely No Adult Permission
One would think an adult would need to be involved in the decision-making process for a child to become a full-fledged ninja. Not considering the academy, the fact that the Hidden Leaf leaders trusted a minor to decide as to whether or not he should become a shinobi seems irresponsible at best.
One would think that for all the other shinobi-to-be, a parent had to sign off on their kid becoming a ninja. Not doing this for the orphans seems problematic at best.
4 Kakashi Focused On Sasuke More Than Naruto
With all the danger that surrounded Naruto since his conception, it is a wonder that Kakashi focused so heavily on Sasuke's training. Not only was Naruto a huge target for enemies who wanted ultimate power, but he was also liable to go off like a bomb at any moment.
Instead, Kakashi trains Sasuke and teaches him techniques like Chidori, which Sasuke ends up using on Naruto. With such self-destructive behaviors, it is questionable why Sasuke should be trusted with a move like Chidori while Naruto is left somewhat in the dust.
3 He Was Never Punished For Vandalism
Naruto was an irreverent child, and the Third Hokage let him get away with a lot. Perhaps it was because Hiruzen felt guilty for not raising Naruto more directly. Naruto got away with vandalizing the Hokage statues, terrorizing the academy, and all other manners of shenanigans.
Naruto likely did this to act out when the rest of the village shunned him, but perhaps a little bit of discipline from the Third Hokage would have done young Naruto some good. At least it would have been some form of "child-rearing."
2 Why Wasn't He Let Go For Stealing The Scroll?
Of all the crimes Naruto committed as a child, stealing the forbidden scroll from the Hokage's stores was the worst. While there is no doubt that Naruto was manipulated into taking the scroll, it does not change that he did what he did.
Other characters, like Ibiki's younger brother, Idate, were banished for similar crimes. While the Village likely did not want the nine-tailed fox spirit out on the road, it is still a wonder why Naruto got off as easily as he did for such a serious crime.
1 How Was Naruto Able To Learn Shadow Clone So Quickly?
Naruto was never one to give up, and he still was hopelessly unable to create clones and do transformation jutsu (beyond the sexy-jutsu) in the academy. However, he is somehow able to create a mind-blowing number of shadow clones after having looked at the scroll for an hour.
While the presence of chakra needed to produce that many clones is easily explainable by the Uzumaki wealth of chakra combined with the nine-tailed fox's power, there is almost no way Naruto could have learned the chakra control so fast.