Naruto Uzumaki is the protagonist of Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto series and an incredibly beloved character to the fans. Naruto has defined the lives of a generation and continues to inspire countless people from all over the world. His story is one that sees him go from a boy with a limited talent to one who conquered the entire world and made everyone acknowledge him.
That said, Naruto wasn't always the capable 7th Hokage that he is today. In fact, on his way to that point, he was faced with several difficult situations and he failed quite a lot of times. That failure, however, is a part of who he is today and has defined his entire being.
7 Failed To Defeat Kimimaro
Naruto Uzumaki has fought several opponents over the years but few have managed to hold him off or stalemate him in combat. Kimimaro, one of Orochimaru's henchmen, managed to do just that. When Naruto was on the quest for Sasuke, he was stopped by Kimimaro, and the two engaged in fierce combat in which the young Uzumaki failed to break through his defenses.
Despite him wanting to get to Sasuke immediately, Naruto failed. It wasn't until Rock Lee arrived that Naruto was able to chase Sasuke once again and had that not happened, he could potentially have lost the fight.
6 Failed To Stop Sasuke
One of the glaring failures in Naruto's entire life is losing his fight with Sasuke and consequently, allowing him to leave Konoha for good. This happened towards the end of the first part of the Naruto series. After Sasuke gained the power of the Curse Mark from Orochimaru, he sought more power in an attempt to kill his brother, Itachi Uchiha.
Sasuke left along with the Sound Five members and was then pursued by the members of Konoha 11. Eventually, Naruto clash with Sasuke in an attempt to bring him back to the village, however, he failed.
5 Failed To Save Gaara
Shortly after the two-and-a-half-year timeskip in Naruto, the Akatsuki started making their move and their targets were none other than the Jinchuriki of the world. Gaara, being the Jinchuriki of the One Tail, was their very first target. Deidara and Sasori attacked the Hidden Sand Village and kidnapped him. Word was immediately sent to Konoha and Naruto's team immediately left on a rescue mission. While they tried their best, they didn't succeed in saving Gaara's life and he needed to be brought back to life later on.
4 Failed To Beat Orochimaru
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Naruto Uzumaki returned to his village after the timeskip, having grown incredibly powerful. Soon after, he started going on missions again and when he confronted Orochimaru on Tenchi bridge, he had the opportunity to rescue Sasuke. Despite going into a frenzy and overwhelming Orochimaru, he was not able to defeat him to take Sasuke back with him.
In fact, Sasuke was the one who ended up stopping him and showed him the true difference in strength that existed between the two. Naruto was not able to take down either Orochimaru or any of his henchmen.
3 Failed To Protect Neji
Neji was one of the members of the Konoha 11 and a genius of the Hyuga clan. He was an incredibly powerful ninja who wielded the power of the Byakugan. Neji was known to be a genius right from his birth. In fact, he had mastered several techniques of the Main Family, despite being a member of the Branch.
As time passed, Neji went on to become a Jonin, however, he met his end during the 4th Great Ninja War. The man leading him into the war, was unable to save him from certain death. Neji's death was a reminder to Naruto that he cannot protect everyone and that he would have to walk on the corpses of his own friends if he did not possess enough strength to protect them.
2 Failed To Save Obito
Obito Uchiha was one of the most important characters in the world of Naruto. While he set out as a young boy with the goal of becoming the Hokage, he ended up becoming a villain and the main trigger for the 4th Great Ninja War.
Despite that, Naruto never lost faith in him and after his defeat, brought him over to the good side. From there onwards, Obito helped the Shinobi Alliance, however, he still ended up dying. The fact that he died in front of Naruto just goes to show that Naruto failed in keeping him safe.
1 Failed To Be The Strongest
Naruto Uzumaki aimed to become the Hokage of the village and surpass every single one who came before him. It is fair to say that by the end of the story, he had already accomplished it in a beautiful manner. Naruto was also the strongest shinobi in the world at this point, however, that didn't last for long.
In the Boruto era, Naruto is barely able to fight the likes of the Otsutsuki beings. What's more, he ends up losing the power of Kurama and is even weaker than several other shinobi around him. Undoubtedly, Naruto has failed to remain at the pinnacle of his abilities long before hitting old age and that certainly is failure on his part.