The Naruto series, written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto, is one of the most popular anime and manga out there, and for a good reason. Naruto is iconic to many fans as the story of a young ninja setting out to conquer the world and find his own path resonated with countless people across the globe.
On top of everything, the incredible character writing for the cast that populated the world of Naruto made the story all the better. Kishimoto did not just write incredible main characters but he also did the same for his villains. However, a major criticism of his villains has been that oftentimes, they get redemption when they do not deserve it. That said, there are certainly some villains that rightfully got to be redeemed in the world of Naruto.
5 Gaara
Gaara was introduced to the fans in the Chunin Exams arc. Hailing from the Hidden Sand Village, he was in Konoha to take part in the Chunin Exams and ascend to the next level, or at least, that was the surface-level version of it. In reality, Hidden Sand had planned to use Gaara to destroy Konoha by unleashing the powers of the One Tail that was sealed within him.
Gaara was portrayed to be a monstrous child from the very beginning of the arc, however, the more the story went on, the clearer it became that he was suffering and no one was there to help him. Naruto, a fellow Jinchuriki, eventually reached out to him and even though the two fought, Naruto touched his heart and, in more ways than one, managed to save him. This changed Gaara forever as he turned his entire life upside down, going from a hated monster to one who wanted to protect his village as well as his family.
4 Pain
Nagato Uzumaki, also known as Pain, was one of the Amegakure Orphans. The Second Great Ninja War tore him and his family apart, as it did the countless other orphans in the land. As the wars raged on in Amegakure, the kids started to show some resistance. Eventually, the Amegakure Orphans, specifically, were trained by Jiraiya in the ways of the ninja arts in order to help them defend themselves and save those in need.
They ended up creating an organization known as the Akatsuki and their goal was to save Ame. However, when Yahiko, Nagato's best friend, died right in front of his eyes, he decided that peace wasn't the way to go forward, after all. Nagato had lost everything at that point in his life and so he decided that others should feel the same pain as him in order to understand what he was going through. While he committed a lot of villainous acts moving forward, Naruto ultimately changed his mind after defeating him and making him see that true peace can eventually be achieved. When Naruto asked him to put his faith in him, Nagato saw the light and decided to sacrifice his life to undo the damage that he had caused the day he invaded Konoha.
3 Sasuke Uchiha
Sasuke Uchiha is one of the most important characters in the world of Naruto, second only to Naruto Uzumaki himself. Although he is one of the protagonists, he is also served the role of a villain. This is because Sasuke was led down the wrong path by the many people who he looked up to in life, specifically, his brother, Itachi. As a child, Sasuke witnessed the murder of his entire clan right in front of his eyes. If that wasn't enough, Itachi made him rewatch the death of his parents and everyone that he loved over and over again until he went into a state of shock. Itachi completely ruined Sasuke's life to a point where all he could think about was revenge and once he did get his revenge, he was told that Itachi was made to do it by the village elders.
Naturally, Sasuke turned his vengeance towards the village and was slowly consumed by hatred. He started killing people where he would spare innocents before and with time, this only got worse. However, when Sasuke eventually met the Hokage and understood what it means to be a Shinobi and what a village truly is, his ideals changed. Sasuke then decided to become the Hokage, however, his version of the Hokage was one who would eliminate all those who caused the previous failures, as well as become a villain against whom the entire world would remain united forever. After losing to Naruto, Sasuke decided to help his best friend build the peace that he wanted for the rest of his life.
2 Konan
Konan was one of the Amegakure orphans as well, just like Nagato. While she did play the role of a villain, she was much more level-headed than Nagato. After Yahiko's death, Konan chose to follow whatever path Nagato led, however, once Nagato had a change of heart, following his defeat to Naruto, Konan also decided to entrust Naruto with everything.
She also tried to fight Obito to protect Nagato's Rinnegan, however, she failed in this task and ended up dying. Nonetheless, she is a character that totally deserved her redemption, given the horrors that she had faced in life.
1 Kurama
Kurama is the Tailed Beast that was within Naruto Uzumaki on the day he was born. This beast was Naruto's biggest enemy for quite a long time. In fact, it wanted to consume and kill him the moment it got an opportunity. The fact that Kurama was known to be a mass of hatred just goes to show that his villainy went beyond anyone else seen in the series.
The fact that Naruto was able to forge a bond of friendship with him through sheer kindness is proof that he is truly one of the kindest people in the story and the Child of Prophecy. Kurama ended up becoming Naruto's best friend and the two shared a very special bond until the eventual death of the beast occurred and Boruto: Naruto Next Generations.