Naruto is a fairly good series, it has it's faults but then again so does everything. The English version is crap, but the Japanese one is much much better, although it sucked hard core during the filler arcs and Shippuden has taken a bit of a plunge by their attempts to make sure the anime never catches up to eh manga again.

But as far as the characters and story goes it's got a fairly decent one. It's has a plethora of characters and actually takes the time to develop them. It has gotten a little old in some cases though, but it still remains a pretty good series.

Most people who hate Naruto more so just hate what it's associated with and the fan base that surrounds it, much like Halo and FFVII.