Novel

If one were to press their ear to the door of the Hokage's office, they would have heard giggling and harsh whispers from within. An adult's mind would initially jump to some sort of lewd conclusion about the Hokage and his wife having intimate relations within, but they would be wrong.

A person with the intelligence of the Hokage's strategist, Shikamaru Nara, would need only to sense the chakra levels and briefly hear the voices before realising that it was a group of small children whispering and giggling to each other.

And as Shikamaru did pass the office, he noted that his eldest son was in the Hokage's office, and was about to enter, before he realised there was a gaggle of six or seven children under the age of 10 in that room.

He decided it was too troublesome to deal with, and went on his way, wondering what the collective noun for a group of children as rambunctious as the group behind the door was.

Inside the room, the group of six children came out from hiding behind the desk, giggling and poking each other.

Kouta and Suki Uzumaki, 9-year-old twins of Hokage Naruto Uzumaki and his wife Hinata were sitting together on their father's chair, while Shikamaru and Temari's 8-year-old son Shikaro hid in the recess of the desk. Sasuke and Saukra's 7-year-old daughter Chiyo and 5-year-old son Itachi (who had his fingers in his ears so Shikamaru wouldn't hear them), and Neji and Tenten's 8-year-old son Hizashi had been crouching behind the desk but were now standing.

Now that his dad was gone, Shikaro returned to the large bookshelf against one of the walls. As he couldn't reach too high, so his perusal was limited to the first three shelves. He didn't even turn his head to watch Suki and Chiyo get Kouta off the Hokage's chair so the younger girl could join her friend. Once displaced though, Kouta joined Shikaro at the bookshelf.

"Hey, what's this?" Kouta asked as he located a book that didn't fit with the others. "Why is there a novel with my dad's Hokage books? Shikaro, will you see what it's about and read it to us?"

Shikaro flicked through a few pages to make sure it was even worth his time, and then started reading the story.

"This story is very muddled, for its beginning is the middle, the middle is the beginning, and then we jump forward to end at the end, if you want to call it that,'' Shikaro read. "We start with out female protagonist, Hikaru, being stabbed in the chest to save the love of her life (who didn't even know it!), our male protagonist Menma."

Shikaro read the book for 25 minutes, detailing a war that kept Hikaru and Menma apart, unable to discuss their feelings, and their eventual first date, before something clicked in Suki's mind. "Wait! Otou-san and Okaa-san had their first at Ichiraku!"

Kouta's eyes widened. "And Hikaru's name is like Okaa-san's…sort of. And menma is a ramen topping, like naruto! Who wrote the book?"

Shikaro checked the back cover of the book and his eyes widened. "Hanabi H. wrote it!"

Suki gasped. "Auntie Hanabi!"

The door to the office opened and there stood Naruto Uzumaki, radiating courage and strength. The wide grin on his face negated any feeling of intimidation on the children's behalf.

Suki snatched the book from Shikaro's hands and she and her twin brother ran over to their father, showing the book to him. "Otou-san! This book is about you!"

Naruto peered at the book clutched in his daughter's small hands, and then surprised the children with an almost-flush. "Where did you find that?"

"In the bookcase Otou-san, it didn't match the big, hard books," Kouta explained.

Naruto nodded, taking the book as his daughter offered it to him. He thumbed through it, pausing on certain pages and to read some phrases.

"Is it really you and Okaa-san in the book? Was it really written by Auntie Hanabi?" Kouta asked.

Naruto snapped the book and looked his children, casting a cursory glance at the other children sitting on the floor near the bookcase. "Yes, the book is about me and Okaa-san, and yes, Auntie Hanabi wrote it."

Suki bit her lip, a trait she inherited from her mother. "Did Okaa-san really get stabbed trying to save you?"

Naruto's face darkened for a moment, remembering an incident he preferred not to. "Yes, she did save me and by extension Konoha, but put herself in terrible danger."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Kouta and Suki cried out together.

"We were going tell you next year before you started your next year at the Academy. You'll start reading textbooks next that have the story of the war in it."

Kouta pouted in confusion. "I-I knew there was a war but…you and Okaa-san couldn't have fighted in it, you're…you're Otou-san and Okaa-san."

Naruto smiled. "We're ninja too Kouta. Your Okaa-san and I met at the Academy, I partly became Hokage later because of my actions during the war."

"But…but…" Suki couldn't seem to get the words out, face scrunched up in confusion.

The Uzumaki twins turned to their friends for assistance, but they looked just as gobsmacked as the twins. Naruto could see their confusion and smiled.

"We'll talk about it at home tonight, I promise, all four of us. But first, you need to explain why you're in my office, and not at Uncle Sai's like you're supposed to be."