Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto.
Prologue: Mission
"Xi'an, the thief country. About 60,000 thieves currently reside there. They have currently become a problem for the Xi'an government and so the emperor has sent here for Konoha ninja to eradicate the thieves. Your job is to find and capture them and send them to the government for trial. This is an A-ranked mission so be prepared. Stay under cover and DO NOT expose yourselves as ninjas."
"Hai," replied Team Gai in unison.
The Godaime waved her hand at them.
"Go." And with that, Team Gai left Hokage tower.
-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-
"YOSH! I'LL WORK WITH ALL MY MIGHT TO ACCOMPLISH THIS MISSION!" cried out Lee.
"Hn," grunted Neji in response to Lee's exuberant statement.
Tenten, though, decided to comment on the mission.
"I've looked up some background information on this and I found that before us, there already have been some thirty-two Chuunin and Jounin level ninja sent."
"That's good though," remarked Lee, "More people, right?"
"Wrong. All these ninja, I've heard, died in rather grotesque ways…Perhaps, Godaime meant to send ninjas on this mission but neglected to tell us…" replied Tenten.
Neji cracked open an eye and stretched out of his "ignoring" stance.
"Lee, Tenten. Let's go."
-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-
"Tsunade-sama! We…er…need more people…please…"
"Oh…About that, yes…I did neglect telling you guys about something…" The Hokage fidgeted a little.
"I'll also be sending Team Asuma, Team Kurenai, and Team Kakashi (or what's left of it) on this mission. Heh. Sorry."
"Hn," Neji replied, straining to keep his facial muscles in a no emotion sort of state.
"Anyway…though…I've got a date for this mission. You need to leave Konoha by tomorrow midnight so go home and pack. I have other things to do."
-/-/-/-/-\-\-\-\-
After Team Gai had left, Tsunade sighed and took a swig of sake which she had hidden.
She sighed. 'I really hope that all these ninja that I sent out don't die on me.'
A/N: Ok…so this was one of these stories that I really had to write or else I couldn't concentrate on other things…yeah… Was there too much conversation? Yes or no? Review, please.