I've started watching 3 years ago when I was at cousin's house. They watched it every day (they were a little younger than me), so they made me watch it and I was like "Oh come on, I'm way to old to watch stuff like that". I didn't even like it at first, since the first epp I watched was Naruto and Tsunade vs. Oro, and that was a fight between giant snake and slug. It was just stupid. But it was kinda cool, so I gave it a shot when I returned home. I started watching anime from the begining and when there wasn't any more episodes I started reading manga.
Naruto actually is a good influence. It teaches you that no matter what others say, you can always prove them wrong with your hard work. That's why I liked the anime, Naruto reminds me a lot of myself. Peope always underestimate me, but I always prove them that I'm better than they think.