Naruto had just as bad a past as Gaara. The villagers hated and feared both of them. Gaara killed his mom, but Naruto never even knew of heard anything of his parents. I think both had a rough past the big difference is that Naruto could control the monster inside of him while Gaara coulden't. Gaara became a complete psycho when he got mad, and would lose control. Naruto never went psycho and tried to kill classmates, which allowed him to make friends, unlike Gaara. Both had a rough past, they just handled their situations differently.