"So you want me to take these building supplies to the hermit on top of the hills over there?" Xiahou said calmly.

"That is correct," Came the professional reply of the administrative clerk.

"Well, I guess I could use the exercise,"

--

He walked alone, but today his gaze did not drift downward, he looked forward at the hill he was to climb. He needed to keep fixed on something other than the dirt. The expression, “Aim for the stars” came to his mind as he wandered closer to that grass and rock covered behemoth of satisfaction he was to call a day out, bringing building supplies to a man who lived a little out of town. The day looked good and the hill looked even better, Xiahou was actually experiencing something like anticipation for this little endeavour.

When he reached the bottom of the path he sighed and looked down before trailing his gaze all the way from bottom to the top of the hill. It was tall, but not un-do-able in a day. Perhaps six hours climbing would see him at the top, and three hours would see him back. He would be ready for coffee at about three in the afternoon. He laughed, he was planning this day out like he was nervous, to tell the truth, he wasn’t in the slightest.

The trek began like any other, with a single step; in that first anticipation fuelled lunge he was off. Climbing like no man had ever climbed before, without the thought of destination. With only the idea of journey. He kept walking further and further until the cobblestone path turned to dirt covered trail, he loved every second of the climb, the scenery was exquisite, breathtaking in its simplicity. He stopped for almost twenty minutes to look at a bird feeding its young; he wished to be a bird for a while. But every time he saw a bird, it made him want to go on a journey, so he had to keep going.

The trees slowly gave way to the height of the mountain, becoming the earth from where he stood, as he climbed higher and higher the town grew smaller and he began to feel that familiar rush of being higher than everything else. This must be how god feels when he sits on that throne looking down on humans with wrathful delight. Xiahou giggled at the thought.

The final part of the trail was a small rock face, usually when tourists came here they would stop at this point because it was high enough to allow the experience but it didn’t require the work of actually making it to the top. Xiahou was going to go to the top, he knew that when he’d started, the house he was visiting was there and he wasn't about to let down this man with his broken windows. He turned to face the wall and planted his hand firmly in the first notch he could find, he pulled himself upwards, securing his feet in safe places, and he began to climb. It wasn’t long before his hand wormed over the top of the rigid wall and he pulled himself over, collapsing on the dirt facing up. His eyes closed and panting, Xiahou lay for a moment.

When his eyes opened he was greeted with a sight that he didn’t expect, an old hermit looming over him with a stern look on his face, perhaps thinking the young Ninja lazy for laying on the ground for a moment after his climb. Xiahou jumped and stood up in front of the man, bowing graciously.

"You're late," The old man said sharply

"Yes, I didn't expect the climb to be so long,"

"Well, get to work then,"

Sighing, Xiahou hoisted the bag of materials from the ground and slung it over his shoulder, making his way towards the house on top of the hill. A recent string of strong winds up here had blowing some ornaments into the windows from the surrounding gardens and broken them clean inwards. While the hermit had cleaned up the mess, he didn't possess the tools to replace the windows himself. This was where Xiahou came in.

Within an hour, as the late afternoon sun nestled into the breast of the distant trees, Xiahou had finished installing three new windows. Watched the entire time with the hawk-like gaze of the hermit. Once finished, there were little pleasantries exchanged between the two, the hermit seemingly wanting the Shinobi gone as quickly as possible. In truth, this left Xiahou feeling a little disheartened. But it mattered little, he had done his part.