Naruto is a hit shonen series starring Naruto Uzumaki himself, a lonely orphan who sought to become the Hokage someday and prove his worth to the entire Hidden Leaf Village. First, though, he had to join a ninja team and gain real battlefield experience, and he was soon assigned to Team 7, with Kakashi Hatake as the team's jonin and leader.

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Team 7 soon became the center focus of the Naruto story, and the team's composition started to change during Shippuden. It's clear that belonging to this team comes with its perks, but any member of Team 7 must also be ready for some harsh realities, as many instances in the Naruto franchise proved. What's not so great about being in Team 7?

10 Kakashi Is Often Late To Meetings

kakashi looking at viewer naruto

This particular gag became less and less of an issue as time went on, but for a time, Team 7's three genin constantly complained that Kakashi was often a few hours late to their team meetings, even though it's Kakashi himself who decides when and where the team will meet. How can he botch his own schedule like that?

The truth is that Kakashi always stops by Obito Uchiha's grave to pay respects, and he'll take his time in doing so. He kept this fact hidden from his genin, though, and always claimed to simply get lost every time.

9 The Bell Test Is Difficult

Naruto - Kakashi holding bells

Kakashi Hatake has high standards, and he won't accept any genin who are callous enough to abandon a teammate or sloppy enough to lose sight of a mission's goals. So, he subjected Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke to the bell test, a test that the other genin teams didn't have to take at all.

Kakashi told his three genin to go after the two bells, and whoever failed to obtain a bell would get kicked out of the team. The three genin had to cooperate to get those bells, but one would be doomed to fail, and this stressed them greatly. Fortunately, no one got kicked out after all.

8 Naruto Has A Bad Attitude Sometimes

naruto annoyed

This particular harsh reality is a real hassle for other members of Team 7, including Sakura Haruno, Naruto's rival Sasuke, and even Yamato the wood release user in Shippuden. Naruto is determined to succeed and prove himself, but he tends to be obnoxious about it.

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Team 7's other members find it tough to root for Naruto and his goals when he keeps testing their patience with his antics and bad attitude, and even Kakashi gets fed up with him sometimes. Being part of Team 7 can be a real headache at times.

7 Sakura Is Fixated On Sasuke

Sakura following and annoying Sasuke

Early in the series, Sakura Haruno nursed an intense crush Sasuke, and unlike Sasuke's other admirers, Sakura ended up on the same team as him, that being Team 7. Sakura saw this as a dream come true, but Team 7's other members felt differently.

Naruto greatly envied Sasuke for being the object of Sakura's affection, and Kakashi was concerned how Sakura would gladly neglect Naruto to aid Sasuke during a battle, which hampered the team's performance. Fortunately, Sakura and Sasuke's relationship became much healthier after the main events of Shippuden.

6 Orochimaru Was Stalking Team 7

Orochimaru smirks while wearing the leaf village headband

For a time, one of Team 7's biggest problems was the snake Sannin Orochimaru, who was stalking Team 7 to get his hands on a promising new body someday. He chose Sasuke, and he pursued Team 7 into the Forest of Death during the second phase of the chunin exam.

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Orochimaru saw Naruto and Sakura as obstacles and pests, and Naruto and Sakura both struggled against Orochimaru, only to face defeat. Then, Orochimaru placed the curse mark on Sasuke's neck, and things only got worse from there. Team 7 was in trouble.

5 Sasuke Left Team 7 And The Leaf Village

sakura crying as sasuke leaves naruto

Sasuke kept inching closer to leaving Team 7, and after Sasuke's humiliating defeat at Itachi's hands, Sasuke decided to test himself against Naruto, and he didn't like the results. So, Sasuke was receptive when the Sound Four arrived, and he left the Leaf Village with them.

Naruto and Sakura were both aghast at Sasuke's cold-blooded betrayal, and Naruto made a promise to bring Sasuke back, only to fail. This was a grim and heartbreaking way to end the original series, and Team 7 was in bad shape. But Naruto still had hope that someday the team would be together again.

4 Team 7 Was Short A Member During Some Missions

naruto in the rain naruto shippuden

After Naruto: Shippuden launched, Sasuke's absence was still being felt, and Team 7 was down to just three members, Kakashi included. This understaffed team still had a duty, though, so Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi accepted a risky mission from Lady Tsunade, the Hokage, to journey to the Land of Wind.

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Team 7 was up against the Akatsuki organization, and Naruto certainly didn't have Sasuke, or even a Sasuke replacement, to help. Fortunately, this understaffed team had Team Guy to back them up, or else the mission would have been even more daunting.

3 Sai Clashed With Everyone At First

Sai from Naruto

After the mission to rescue Gaara was complete, Team 7 was finally restored to full strength, but the new member, the mysterious Sai, made an awkward first impression. Sai was all about fake smiles and oddly blunt statements, and he soon drew both Naruto's and Sakura's ire.

Sai actually got slugged by them, but he still didn't get angry. He merely found this confusing, and admitted that he's not so great with interpersonal relationships and reading people. At first, Team 7 was squabbling nonstop, and Yamato was getting tired of it.

2 Team 7's Strength Is Lopsided

Naruto in his Nine Tails Chakra Mode preparing to attack

Ideally, a ninja team will be finely balanced in terms of combat power and strategy, as the Ino-Shika-Cho formation suggests, and Team 8 is reasonably balanced, too. But Team 7, and even Team Guy for that matter, are distinctly unbalanced, which can be awkward during a mission.

Sakura Haruno made serious progress before and during Shippuden, but she still fell far short of Naruto and Kakashi, especially in the face of powers like Sage Mode and the Mangekyo Sharingan. At worst, Sakura was a liability for the team, and Sai definitely paled in comparison to Naruto and Kakashi, too.

1 Naruto Has Many Enemies

the akatsuki in naruto

Naruto Uzumaki has many powerful enemies and rivals, and this can complicate Team 7's career in many ways. Primarily, Naruto's enemies include the Akatsuki organization's members, since he is a jinchuriki and thus a part of their plans. Even Tsunade, as the Hokage, must factor this in when assigning missions to Team 7.

Any Team 7 member is in constant danger by being a teammate of Naruto's, since Naruto's enemies may capture or kill them to get to Naruto himself. Team 7 also had to contend with Madara Uchiha eventually, who had been in the shadows up to that point.

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