Summary: The folktale of the Japanese summer festival Tanabata, the story of Orihime’s and Hikoboshi’s love.
Rated M.
Finally updated after 4.5 years for NaruHina Fair, NH Month 2023 Day 8: World Mythology 💝
"The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl" - Chapter 4: With well wishes and prayers
It was gut-wrenching.
He thought that he was already at his worst, at his lowest point, but it didn’t compare to when he heard that Hinata was pregnant.
In fact, really pregnant. It was the talk of the celestial realm. Everyone looked at him with pity.
Each look his way reminded him of his failures. He lost his wife. And now he would never be a father to his child, to his rumored son.
To his children.
When he heard that Hinata had given birth to twins, his heart ached only worse, only harder for his family. He worried incessantly for her health, wishing that he could support her, be there for her, or at least, just once, lay eyes on her and his newborns.
He overheard acquaintances and friends saying that he changed. That he was no longer the vivacious, dependable lord he once was.
He could hardly care less.
There was no one he wanted to see, no one he wanted to talk to, no one he wanted to seek out for comfort and assurance more than his wife. Anyone else would just be someone else, just another awful reminder of what he had lost.
But new hope flooded him when he got the message from Tentei to meet Orihime at the Amanogawa. He let unchecked tears of happiness form and fall, and he rushed to the misty riverbank to wait for her.
When she appeared, he felt out-of-body, his entire existence centered on her distant figure and the precious little lives she held in her arms.
He stood there, still, waiting in restless anticipation. Waiting. Waiting.
Until it became apparent.
That was all he would ever do for her.
Hope mutated into fear.
Then shocked denial.
Into despair.
He watched her collapse to her knees at the riverbank, and he stood there frozen, dull, his eyes the only thing burning with any sort of emotion. The rest of him was empty, as if all else, all vitality, all motivation, had been sucked out of him.
He would never hold her.
He would never hold his children.
He would only get to see them, their vague, small forms. Once a year. For one night.
The Amanogawa would forever separate them.
He closed his burning eyes and yelled out in anguish then, but it was hardly a sound compared to the thundering of the mighty river. He let himself fall to his knees, to forcefully express his misery into the ground with his fists. The Heavenly Sky King was untouchable. He had only himself to blame.
When he finally found the desire to at least burn her distant image into his memory, he was astounded at the sight of thousands of birds gathering at the far bank. His heart skipped, jumping to cautious hope again when he saw her step up on the backs of the birds.
-
With each step, she gained confidence, until she was running across the magpies’ bridge, desperately rushing to her lover.
She saw the birds keeping her pace, flitting beneath and before her to extend the path to the opposite end.
Midway, her chest burned, her legs felt numb, her arms were tired with the weight of her children, but she refused to stop. She could see the edges of his form sharpening, the blue of his eyes brightening.
She pressed onward until the shout of her name was clearer to her ears than her heavy gasps for air.
Naruto ran to the water’s edge. Once the magpies appeared before him, he didn’t wait, he couldn’t wait.
He exchanged looks with the birds, who invited him forward, and without any more hesitation, he stepped up on their backs to meet her.
“Hinata!” He caught her exhausted form and swept her up as she clutched their children. He kissed her, reveling in the lips he missed so much, in her tired breaths against his cheeks.
“Naruto,” she whispered, her breath on his lips a blessing.
He held her tighter, finding that even her tear-streaked face, her puffy lids, and her pink-stained eyes made a more breathtaking picture than his memories of her.
The magpies returned them to the banks swiftly.
He set his wife down carefully, his arms never fully leaving her, his gaze never leaving his children.
Their eyes were blue, like his. One child’s hair, golden, like his. The other child’s a midnight blue, like Hinata’s.
She passed them to him, and he held them close, their weight filling the holes of his heart.
“Thank you,” Hinata whispered to the magpies as they began to fly away.
He turned to the remaining ones, reminded to express his appreciation. “Thank you,” he called, his voice still hoarse from his earlier cries. “Is there anything I can do to repay you?”
“We wish for nothing other than your happiness and continued love. We will be at your service,” a magpie responded.
Naruto and Hinata exchanged looks of amazement before thanking the magpies once more.
-
The morning passed swiftly in carefree play. Their children ambled through the fields surrounding Naruto’s home, exploring nature exactly the way Hinata had imagined. Their curious voices rang across the grasses, unchecked babbles of excitement with no one to scold them to behave and be quiet.
Hinata explained the symbolism on their children’s clothing, roadmaps of their little lives so far, and Naruto found he could trace each important milestone, from first steps to first manifestations of holiness, along his wife’s embroidery. She spoke of their routine in the palace, the monotony of their children’s rigorous training and academics despite their young age.
“They don’t get to play?” he asked, incredulous and disturbed.
“Oh, they do, but it’s not enough…They have too much energy for the caretakers to handle, and my father…Tentei, he has me working so much, I cannot take them out of the palace often enough...”
The shadows across Naruto’s face lightened at the sound of their children’s bubbling laughter. He picked them up, bouncing them in his arms to their absolute glee, and walked them across the field to his grazing cattle.
Hinata watched with bated breath as Naruto introduced their children to his famed herd.
Having never seen any of the heavenly beasts before, they adored their father’s cattle with wide eyes, eager petting, and affectionate hugs. The gentle beasts allowed them to sit on their backs as they grazed and wandered around the field.
By the end of lunchtime, both children preferred their father’s strong arms and broad chest to rest against than their mother’s slight frame. They fell asleep that way, snuggled into his body.
With ease, Naruto laid them down in his bed, and Hinata kneeled close to admire them with him.
He sighed, heart heavy with love and sorrow. “Thank you, Hinata, for raising them so well. They’re beautiful. They’re perfect. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry I couldn’t be with you all this time.”
She leaned her head against his arm, humming her disagreement. “I’m sorry, too, Naruto-kun, that we haven’t been here with you.”
He turned to hold her better, and they kissed their tears away, murmuring how much they had missed each other and renewing their promises of devotion. Moving to a nearby room, they gave outlet to their frustration, longing, and adoration in intimate, warm embrace. Tracing and relearning each other’s shapes and comfort, they held and moved with each other eagerly, desperately, then tenderly.
In the remaining moments of their children’s nap, and with Hinata snuggled into his side, Naruto brought up the delicate issue he could sense was weighing on his wife’s mind. “I’m sure you’ve considered this…would you let me have them?”
She nodded, tears already refilling her eyes despite how she had mentally prepared. “It would be better for them. I’ve never seen them so relaxed.”
He thumbed away the silent tears damp on her cheeks. “You would let me take them on my journeys across the star plains?”
“I trust you.”
He pressed his forehead to hers gently, breathing her in. “I promise to take care of them. I’ll teach them everything I know.”
“I know you’ll take care of them,” she whispered. “There’s so much more for them here than in the palace.”
“They won’t have you, though. They’ll miss you.” He looked into his wife’s eyes, the ones that had enamored him from the moment he saw her. “I’ll miss you,” he murmured.
“Mm, I’ll miss you. I’ll miss them.” Her breath shook, her voice choked with suppressed tears, yet she found her thoughts tumbling out all at once. “It will only be one year that we’ll be apart. My father can’t break his promise. Even if he’s angry with me, he can’t retaliate against our decision and he will have to let us reunite every year. One year will feel like nothing after the eternity of not knowing if we’d ever get to see each other again. So this will pass quickly, and,” she took a steadying breath, “I’ve…I’ve discussed this with our children already.”
Surprised, he watched the grief in her expression harden into determination. “You have?”
“Yes. I didn’t know if you would agree, but I told them your stories just in case. I told them that they might join you on your adventures, that they would grow up to be strong and smart like you.”
“Hinata,” he breathed out, amazed and moved. He held her close. “I won’t let you down. Thank you. Thank you so much. I love you.”
She rested her head into his chest and listened for the strong beat of his heart. “I love you, Naruto-kun.”
-
When the twins awoke, the rest of the afternoon flew by in preparation for their journey. Hinata held them close whenever she could for as long as she could before they wiggled out of her grasp. She helped Naruto pack the necessary belongings.
And all too soon, the time came for her to journey back to Raira.
The magpies took the family halfway across the Amanogawa, where they shared a parting embrace.
“Listen to your father. Be good,” she murmured to her twins, planting kisses on their cheeks and foreheads.
“Yes, Okaa-sama.”
Naruto chuckled at their diligent answer. It was hard to imagine the children of the famed Orihime being too much for the palace caretakers when he himself as a kid couldn’t have even been bothered to give anyone such a polite response. “We’ll be too busy and on the move for them to be naughty.” He gave his wife a reassuring smile.
She held each of their faces, committing their matching, electric blue eyes to memory. “I love you all. I will see you all again very soon.” Already, she could feel new inspiration for her art dazzle through her mind, this temporary sorrow and determined hope to be immortalized in binding thread.
“Take care, Hinata.” Naruto found strength in Hinata’s bright gaze. He clutched their children to his heavy heart, endlessly grateful for the living, beautiful proof of their love. “By the time we reunite, our children will have traveled to the zenith of Northern Genbu. They’ll be able to name all the cattles’ starhouses.”
She found herself smiling with pride and excitement even as the calls of the magpies intensified with the turning of the celestial bodies at the horizon. She held on to her children’s hands for as long as possible before the magpies separated them, and even then, she smiled and called after them, and they did the same.
Returned to Raira, she watched as their distant forms at the opposite bank of Akira were enveloped in the thickening mist of the thunderous flow of the Amanogawa.
And not allowing herself to wallow in her self-imposed solitude, she set to work. Weaving and embroidering, she lavished fabrics with glorious designs of her family’s tale, surrounding her workshop with prayers for their good fortune.
Impressed with her meticulous, auspicious work on display, visiting clients spread her story through the courts, and the tale of the power of Orihime and Hikoboshi’s love swept across the Symbols of the heavens into every god’s ear, down to the mortal realm below.
With the well-wishes and prayers of worshiping human maidens, young couples, and other mortal sympathizers, the skill and value of Hinata’s weaving grew, and Naruto and his children safely passed through every crossing. Their status and fame brought prosperity to the heavens. Tentei couldn’t punish his daughter any worse than he already had.
On the seventh day of the seventh month, magpies, more numerous than the first time, bridged the Amanogawa’s banks again.
Successfully reunited, the family rejoiced in each other’s presence and growth, and the rest of the world celebrated with them.
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Okies, here's my NaruHina Fair wrap-up bingo card 😭💝 The month went by way too quickly. THANK YOU everyone who participated for all the wonderful NaruHina fics and art and moodboards and other stuff!!! Even if it's not on this list, I enjoyed everything I saw and read 💖 I loved reflecting on NH Fair last year, and this Bingo card gave me a way to think more deeply about everyone's work again this year 🔎
This SHOULD NOT be opened in public *opens it anyway* - @iamdslr's nsfw art that she surprised us all with on discord 🔥🤯 absolutely gorgeous depiction of one of my fave positions 🙈 sorry tmi
Flooding this artist with tons of notifications - @shirii My fave was definitely the Evil AU!!! So cute, so evil. A perfect art to match madglow's "A New Dawn" fic! Also I love how saturated the colors are in shirii's art.
I've lost count to how many times I've seen/read this. AND I'LL DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN - "Cruel Angel" by @sessakag The horror and the smut is just soooo Sessakag-style. Like no one else could have possibly written this. Also I don't know who suggested "the world's ending and you're far from your love," but I thought the prompt sounded impossible, and you know what, Sessakag can write the impossible.
Had a bad day but seeing this made it better - "For Ruin and the World's Ending" by @badluckbrebis thank u for reposting this because it seems like I completely missed/forgot about this, it seemed new to me 😓 I love it so much, the description of their world is so vibrant, and yeah, an update from you makes life so much better 🥺💕 !!!
THIS IS WHAT TRUE LOVE LOOKS LIKE - @diyas-diaries-98 All of the short stories in "NaruHina Month 2023" are so cute and stars-in-their-eyes in love, but my fave is "Me in Your Eyes"!! The prompt is already a foundation for the fandom, but you took it to the next level in describing how they see each other🤩
THIS DESERVES TO BE SEEN BY ALL *shares work multiple times* - I have recommended @wickermayne's "Chicken Ramen for the Pervert's Soul" several times, and I will do it again!!! Actually I think "Hinata (Light Femdom)" is the first fic I read/commented on for you....anyway, I love, love, love it. Will always love it.
This is so silly. I LOVE IT! - "Things that Moan in the Night" is just....wow. honestly it was a toss-up between the cold shower and this bingo square, but in the end, it's a really fun smutty fic for me that's experimental in a way most smut fics aren't. I love the writing challenge of switching pov's, especially to 2nd pov.
It's not enough for me to see/read it. I NEED TO EAT IT TO BECOME A PART OF ME! - @lavvdil's "devouring you" for the beauty and the beast prompt!! Hinata's just gorgeous!! I would so love to write that kind of NaruHina, the Naruto who's so close to the demon itself, the Hinata who's so precious to the demon... reminds me of utsu's fic "Monster of the Tales". then @avbocetos's "Kiss the byakugan princess!" art is so, so lovely, the blank period/The Last NaruHina kiss is soooo passionate, and mmmmmm I want to write that so badly. That kind of heart-pounding kiss!
it's sooooo FLUFFY! - "My #1 Supporter" by shineofdawn, ohhh my gosh, so I'm already a sucker for pianist Hinata. But just the way shineofdawn was able to have Hinata's piano music be a support for badminton player Naruto, the connection is so wonderful 😭 and "Promise Rings" by @powerful-niya has gotta be the fluffiest thing Niya has ever written. It's sooo...ugh, love!!! They're in love and promising themselves to each other for forever and it's perfect!!!
FREE - @bornonthebreakofdawn's tanka for "Me in Your Eyes" prompt. I love born's poetry, but this one hit it out of the ballpark for me. In such few words, born touched on how sensitive Naruto must be in the way people look at him, and how different and special it must've been when he saw how Hinata looks at him. Something to ruminate on.
You've already left a kudos/like - @cherpring's "Marriage (Thai Culture)" art!!!! I love seeing NaruHina in different cultures, and then on top of that, this art has so many interesting details, the cushions (?), Naruto's pants, the flowers, their pins... I love their little blushes!!! Definitely one of my fave arts of this month.
I need a cold shower - "Another Baby" by Its_Levioooosaa got me invested, I loved how excited they were 😳 and "Dark Circles" by @bunny-hoodlum ahhhhhhh how exhausted but turned on Naruto was, like, yes, I love that energy!!!
IT WAS NOT FINE - What Is This Heartbreak in "Don't Deny Me" by Imanga 😭💔 "Oh, I can't handle angst" she says, "I don't know how you guys can read so much angst" she says. What a liar lol
OMG they replied to my comment!!! - So by far, the longest comment I left this month was for @nightowl27-writer's "Weird Hinata" because imo it was really just the tightest and most skillful writing all month. There was so much to analyze in every line, the relationship between them was so complex, nightowl developed their characters so well!!! I was so happy that nightowl read and replied to my comment 🙈
This fic is incomplete and I shall never rest again - "Free Day!" by @opttagoyeo was the one that got me in a chokehold. What does Kurama MEAN that Hinata might be one of them??? The other fics in "NH Month 2023" are great, too, but there's a little bit more of a closure for the "Red Strings of Fate" and "Time Travel." Priest!Naruto is like 2 more meetings away from seductress!Hinata pulling his pants down and giving him the time of his life, but also what is the mystery behind them??? I must know.
Why is this a one-shot? I need 6 seasons and a movie! - "A New Dawn" by madglow and "ready or not" by @secrettastemakerland, I am so impressed at how they crammed entire gigantic plots that could SERIOUSLY be 2 hour long movies into short fics. How. Just how did they do that. I'm left wanting more!! And also, I'm terribly jealous, like, I wish I could write my ideas that well. "A New Dawn" is the Akatsuki!NaruHina the fandom's been waiting for and "ready or not" AHHHH fox!Naruto!!!!! I just, love fox Naruto. So does Hinata.
How do I ask for an update without asking for an update? - Bunny!!!!! BunnyHoodlum wrote yoga!Hinata and yet another, new troubled!Naruto unlike one we've ever seen before in "Handsy" and I'm so in love with Bunny's writing ughhhhhhhhh, how Naruto is a yes man, how he's so all-over-the-place, and then Hinata, the good girl, rich girl, out-of-his-reach girl!!! This fic hits soo many things for me!
I am drowning in tears and may never recover - @golubhat's "Goodbye Naruto-kun..." art for war and love... you know NaruHina month had barely started, and golubhat just throws this at us from the get-go. That lost look in Naruto's eyes...jeez louise my gosh....the tears...the way he's gripping her head... on the flipside, my fave golubhat art this month was the Soviet high school students au!!!!!!, like, tell me more about that!!!!
11pm is a great time to start a 100k slow burn - I know Powerful_Niya's "Reckless Love" 2-shot probably isn't 100k, but it's definitely on the longer side of fics posted this month, and I did start reading it around 11:00. Anyway, delinquent!Naruto and angelic!Hinata are to-die-for in this fic. They are both down bad for each other and practically in denial about it!!
I don't think I'll be able to sleep well after that - @spaciousignatius posts NaruHina fanfics like...maaaybe once a year, and "Taken" is so terribly melancholy yet so worth the wait 😭 I love it and just hope that Naruto and/or Hinata somehow gets even against these military guys.
Wow, that might haunt me in my dreams - and I mean this in a good way. Just like born's tanka, @opal-chan's "Rage Room" got me thinking... on family, forgiveness, internalizing feelings versus externalization. Opal-chan does a fantastic job with portraying the Hyuuga clan in such a raw way.
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