Naruto starts off in a direction that I simply wish the show had continued following. Ninja train to complete all manner of jobs, some straightforward, some shady as heck including paid assassinations. Somewhere along the line, they became nothing but dull shonen stereotypes, magic wizards with a Japanese twist. You can call them ninjas if you wish, but they're just punching wizards, powered by friendship, who exist solely to protect their pals.
Yes, Naruto IS a shonen anime, but I remember way back reading the manga for the first time, I felt like it was going to take a darker route. I really don't like how the series ended. I never expected it to become some edgy murder fest, but...the need to redeem almost every single bad guy? It's lame, it takes any tension you might feel out of the story when you know that any enemy that gets enough fan love, will eventually help the good guys. The worst offense was what they did to the Kyuubi. The idea that at any time this raging evil with nearly unstoppable power could finally break loose if Naruto was pushed too far, that was cool. Now he's a talking pet dog.
Anyway, if you want a rather generic, if pretty well done series, Naruto isn't bad as long as you skip the filler episodes. Of which there are Many.
If you're looking for a story where the author wasn't afraid to take chances, this probably isn't for you.
