Kakashi Hatake is one of the main characters in Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto series. He's the leader of Team 7 which comprises Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno, arguably the three most important characters in the entire series. Kakashi teaches the three what it means to be a ninja and thus plays a huge role in making them as great as they are today.
Being crucial in the plot of the story, it's no surprise that Kakashi has a deep story tied to him and just like many other characters, he has suffered quite a lot in the past just because he is a shinobi.
10 Kakashi Had To Fight A War When He Was A Child
Kakashi Hatake was a born genius and feared across the shinobi world even when he was a kid. He became a Jonin at the young age of 13 and, like all the other kids, was thrown into the Third Great Ninja War because the village lacked manpower.
Although he did well on the battlefield, it was full of tragedies for him, and the losses he suffered there were immeasurable for him.
9 Kakashi Lost An Eye In The Third Great Ninja War
One of the very first things that Kakashi Hatake lost during the Third Great Ninja War was his left eye. During a mission, Kakashi and his team encountered Kumogakure ninja who succeeded in kidnapping Rin.
While fighting them off, he joined forces with Obito Uchiha and although he did succeed in doing that, he ended up losing an eye in the process. Later on, he received an eye transplant from Obito but at a great cost.
8 Kakashi Lost Obito Uchiha In The War
In the same mission, Kakashi Hatake ended up losing his best friend, Obito Uchiha as well. Due to the tremendous skill of the Kumogakure ninja with Earth Release, escape was extremely difficult and would've been impossible for the lot had Obito not saved Kakashi from a falling boulder.
With half of his body crushed, Obito accepted the fact that he would die and gifted his other Sharingan to Kakashi. Surprisingly, Obito lived, but Kakashi didn't know that until later in the story.
7 Kakashi Lost Rin Nohara In The War
If Obito's loss wasn't enough, Kakashi also ended up losing his only other teammate, Rin Nohara, who was targeted by Madara Uchiha. The Uchiha legend planned to make her into the Jinchuriki of the Three tails and have Kakashi kill her so Obito would join his side.
Madara succeeded in his plan and although Kakashi didn't want to kill her, she willingly stepped in front of his attack and died a painful death.
6 Kakashi Suffered From PTSD After The War
Although Rin decided to jump in front of Kakashi's Raikiri, to him, it felt like he murdered her. This hurt him especially more since he had promised to protect her at all costs to Obito before he "died."
Unsurprisingly, this image haunted Kakashi and he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and woke up nearly every night in a cold sweat, dreaming about killing Rin again and again.
5 Kakashi Had To Join The Konohagakure ANBU
Kakashi was a skilled ninja right from a very young age and because he had certain qualities that fit an ANBU ninja, he was asked to join the team. In no time, Kakashi rose to the very top and became an ANBU Captain.
However, his time in the ANBU was much more harmful to him as he had to kill others daily. Every time he pierced someone with his Raikiri, it reminded him of Rin and worsened his trauma even more.
4 He Was Transformed Into A Merciless Killer
At heart, Kakashi Hatake has always been a gentle person, but his time in the ANBU made him a merciless killer. Over the years, Kakashi has killed a lot of people including some that one would expect him to spare.
His life had lost all color by the time he left the ANBU and only after he got his own shinobi team did he manage to listen to his heart once more.
3 Kakashi Lost Minato Namikaze In Nine-Tails Attack
Among the very few people that Kakashi Hatake could rely on was Minato Namikaze, his sensei. Kakashi looked up to him and had nothing but respect for him. Minato was also the last known person to be alive from their team, other than Kakashi himself.
Unfortunately, when the Nine-Tails struck with Obito, Kakashi lost Minato as well, and his entire team was now dead to him. Once again, being a ninja ruined his life.
2 He Was Forced To Bottle His Emotions & Shrug Them Off
Kakashi had faced quite a lot of hardships in his life right from the beginning and while there isn't a solution to simply get over it, showing emotions and letting it out always lessens the burden.
Unfortunately, Kakashi couldn't even do that because shinobi are expected to bottle up their emotions. It has been believed for a long time that emotions are a weakness to ninja, and thus, Kakashi could never properly mourn the loss of those he loved.
1 Kakashi Also Failed To Stop His Student
Kakashi was the leader of Team Seven right until the end of the Naruto series and one of the most problematic parts of the team was Sasuke Uchiha, who had seen circumstances similar to that of Kakashi Hatake.
As such, Kakashi understood him quite well and wanted to help him by getting over the need for revenge and making sure he became a terrific shinobi. However, he failed to stop him from being influenced by Orochimaru and leaving the village. As expected, Kakashi blamed himself for this as well.