Twelve years before the events at the focus of the series, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox attacked Konohagakure. Powerful enough to raise tsunamis and flatten mountains with a swish of one of its tails, it raised chaos and slaughtered many people, until the leader of the Leaf Village – the Fourth Hokage – sacrificed his own life to seal the demon inside Naruto when he was a newborn. The Fourth Hokage, who was celebrated as a hero for sealing the demon fox away, wanted Naruto to be respected in a similar light by being the containment vessel for the demon fox.
The Leaf Village, however, shunned him, regarding Naruto as if he were the demon fox itself and mistreated him throughout most of his childhood. A decree made by the Third Hokage forbade anyone to discuss or mention the attack of the demon fox to anyone, even their own children. However, this did not stop them from treating him like an outcast and as a result he grew up an orphan 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.
However, that soon changed after Naruto graduated from the Ninja Academy by using his Shadow Clone Technique, a technique from a forbidden scroll that he was tricked into stealing, to save his teacher, Iruka Umino, from the renegade ninja Mizuki. That encounter gave Naruto two insights: that he was the container of the demon fox, and that there was someone besides the Third Hokage who actually cared for and acknowledged him. His graduation from the academy opened a gateway to the events and people that would change and define his world, including his way of the ninja for the rest of his life.
The main story 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 Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, two fellow young ninja who are assigned with him to form a three-person team under an experienced sensei named Kakashi Hatake.[6] Naruto also confides in other characters that he meets throughout the series as well. 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 Hokage of the Leaf Village.
Throughout all of the Naruto plot, strong emphasis on character development changes the plot, with very few things happening because of chance. At first, emphasis is placed on Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, who are the members of Team 7. However, other characters are developed, such as Kakashi, Tsunade, and Jiraiya, as well as Naruto's peers in the other teams and villages. Several major villains come into play as well, the first being Zabuza Momochi, a missing-nin from Kirigakure, and his partner, Haku. Later, in the Chunin Exams arc, Orochimaru is introduced as an S-Class missing-nin at the top of Konoha's most wanted list. During this arc, three ninjas known as the Sand Siblings are introduced. These siblings are from Sunagakure and include Temari, Kankuro and Gaara. Later still, a mysterious organization called Akatsuki begins to pursue Naruto for the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox inside him. 在火影忍者正式故事展開的12年前,一隻被稱為「九尾妖狐」的巨大妖怪襲擊木葉忍者村。傳說它一揮動尾巴就會山崩海嘯。當時的第四代火影(波風水門)犧牲自己的性命,把妖狐封印在剛出生的孩子 — 漩渦鳴人身上。
第四代火影被村裡的人認為是英雄,但他更希望村裡的人同樣地將鳴人當作英雄看待。但村民認為鳴人就是「九尾妖狐」的化身,而不是作為封印的妖狐容器,因此為鳴人自小便被人歧視。
重新復出的第三代火影已經禁止村人和後代提到這次的突襲事件,但此舉仍不能阻止人們把鳴人視為敵人。就連他們不知情的後代,在父母的感染下,亦疏遠鳴人。因此,鳴人從小備受孤立,既沒有朋友也得不到別人的認同。為了引起其他人注意,鳴人經常惡作劇。但這種狀況在他成功的通過「忍術學校」的畢業考試後逐步改變,並以「超越以往所有火影」為目標,尋找屬於自己的忍道。
<火影忍者故事既包含嚴肅和娛樂的情節,整個故事以鳴人及其朋友的成長為核心,並描繪他們在人生經歷當中的相互作用。鳴人與兩位好友 —— 佐助和春野櫻,及他們的導師旗木卡卡西組成第七組執行各種任務。