Twelve years before the events at the focus of the series, the Kyūbi no Yōko (Nine-Tails Demon Fox) attacked Konohagakure, the Hidden Leaf Village. It was a powerful demon indeed; the flap of the tails of the Kyūbi would raise tsunamis and flatten mountains. It raised chaos and slaughtered the people, until the leader of Konoha – the Fourth Hokage – defeated it by sacrificing his own life to seal Kyūbi inside a newborn child whose origins are yet unknown. That child's name was Uzumaki Naruto.

   The Fourth Hokage was remembered as a hero for sealing the Kyūbi away, and he wanted Naruto to be remembered as a hero as well for being the vessel of containment for the fox demon, but the village he grew up in had mostly contempt for Naruto, because of the tragedy that was brought to them by the same demon that's living inside Naruto.

   A decree made by the Hokage made it so that the other villagers were forbidden to mention the event to anyone, even their own children. However, this did not stop them from treating Naruto like an outcast. Although their children did not specifically know why their parents treated Naruto the way they did, they learned through example to despise the boy. As result, Naruto grew up as an orphan in a lonesome atmosphere without friends, family or acknowledgment. He could not force people to befriend him, so he sought acknowledgment and attention the only way he knew – through pranks and mischief. But that would soon change; Naruto is about to face the ninja academy graduation exam – a gateway to the events and people that will change and define his world and his way of the ninja for the rest of his life.

   Naruto maintains a balance between drama and comedy. It follows Naruto and his friends' personal growth and development as ninja, and emphasizes their interactions with each other and the influence of their backgrounds on their personalities. Naruto finds two friends and comrades in Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, two fellow young ninja who are assigned with him to form a three-man team under a very experienced sensei named Hatake Kakashi. They learn new abilities, get to know each other and other villagers better and experience a coming-of-age journey as Naruto dreams of becoming the next Hokage of Konoha.