Naruto is a now worldly-popular manga/anime series created by Masashi Kishimoto. The manga was first published in 1999 by Shueisha in Shounen Jump and brought a new level of ninja to adoring fans. Since Volume 36 of Naruto, the manga has sold over 71 MILLION copies of this infamous series in Japan. A summary of Naruto will follow:
Ten years ago, Konohagakure (or Hidden Leaf Village) was attacked by a monstrous "Nine-tails demon fox," or Kyubi. Destructive was this demon, damaging the village and bluntly taking lives of the innocent. No one could face the Kyubi and leave alive. At the same time, the Fourth Hokagec came forth to take care of the Kyubi once and for all; he sealed the demon's spirit into a newborn child named Uzumaki Naruto, and the Kyubi's physical form was gone. This jutsu² has its toll on both the child and the Fourth Hokage himself, however; in sealing the demon, he has to pay the fee of his own life, and Uzumaki Naruto carries of the burden of the demon behind inside of him, causing the village to look down upon him.
In present day, Naruto is now twelve-years-old and in his third year of the Ninja Academy--after failing twice to become a Genin (the lowest rank as an offical Leaf ninja). Him being constantly disrepected by the older generation of the village caused him to become ambitious, loud, and "different." He wants to prove that he is strong and eventually be the Hokage of Konohagakure.
¹ "Hokage": The village leader and most superior figure of the village (in this case, Hidden Leaf Village). The Fourth Hokage has no known name yet; he's often referred as "The Fourth" or "Yondaime."
² "Jutsu": or otherwise known as "technique." This are few-part handseals that allows you to do certain skills.