the game was pretty fun, from wut i have played so far, it takes place during the storyline of when you are fighting the sound five, and u have to play through stages to get to each different boss, which is a member of the sound 5. it does not completely follow the storyline tho, as u get to play as a bunch of characters who were not there.
u have 5 main people u can choose to fight as: Naruto, Sakura, Lee, Neji, and Sasuke. u then get to choose 2 of the following helpers to come with u for each: Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, Shino, Gaara, Ino, Kankurou, Temari, Hinata, Tenten. and the 2 hidden helpers i have unlocked are: Kakashi, and Gai.
it just bugs me a bit that in this part of the storyline, u should be trying to rescue sasuke, and yet u can play as him, and all those other people who r there, should not be. the 5 playable characters should be Naruto, Neji, Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba. but o well, guess they figured it would be more fun if u got to play as all the characters.