You dont watch the anime for story, you watch the anime for entertainment. Even the so called "filler" material is entertaining and usually adds depth to under developed themes or characters.

If you want story, just read the manga. And if the anime ever catches up with manga... its bye bye good naruto. Drag out no jutsu will be kicking in full steam ... this is what happened to dbz during the freezia and buu sagas... totally killed the series.