Naruto Twelve years before the start of the series, the ninja village of Konohagakure was attacked by the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. The village was only saved from complete destruction by the actions of Konoha's leader, the Fourth Hokage, who sacrificed his life to seal the Nine-Tails into a newborn: Naruto Uzumaki. Orphaned by the attack, Naruto grew up shunned by most of the villagers, who hated and feared him because of the Nine-Tails trapped within him. Unaware of the monster he contained, Naruto longed for acknowledgment, and so vowed to one day become the greatest Hokage the village had ever seen. (from Narutopedia)
