DISCLAIMER: I DEFINITELY DON'T OWN NARUTO (SOURCE: JUST TRUST ME ON THIS ONE HAHA)

Assimilation of Information

Team 10 was currently setting up camp for the night, they have been traveling the entire day whilst taking breaks every now and then. Overall, their team has covered a good portion of their journey to Mori no Kuni (Land of Forests). Since they were far away from Konoha where it was raining, Team 10 was experiencing a rather peaceful night with tamer weather conditions. Asuma once again ordered his students to set up camp, Ino and Shino were tasked to set up their stuff while Naruto's job was to gather firewood.

After a few moments, all of them finished their respective jobs. Asuma gathered all three of them in order to discuss something, "Naruto, Ino, the both of you listen to me. You too Shino though this mini-exercise is for the both of them" He told his students.

"What are you going to teach us Asuma-sensei?" Ino asked

"Now that I know the both of you are inclined to use fire nature, I am going to be teaching the both of you some useful fire jutsus" Asuma explained

"Ohhh sweet!" Naruto said enthusiastically

"Settle down Naruto, where was I? Oh right, the first jutsu I will be teaching both of you is the Katon: Hoteri Ougigata no Jutsu (Fire Release: Flash Fan Technique). Now, this jutsu isn't a viable offensive technique since it's just a practical jutsu to use if you're in a pinch and need to start a fire. Though you can make it somewhat viable if you're willing to use more chakra. But that's not the point, the hand seals are as follows: Tiger - Bird - Ram"

"That's it?"

"Yeah, were you expecting more?|

"Honestly, I was"

"Well just do those hand seals and a burst of fire will emerge from your mouth in the shape of a cone" Asuma demonstrated how it was done. Both blondes found it fascinating and wanted to try it out themselves.

It took a while for them to get the jutsu down as both blondes took turns in lighting the campfire. Once the fire was lit, they sat around it and ate dinner. After that, they simply chatted for a while before retiring for the night in order to continue their journey to Mori no Kuni (Land of Forests).

Their journey took a total of two and a half days before they were able to reach the town of Migashisonogi, it was a mid-sized town with a handful of houses here and there. Team 10 entered the town to see some of its locals minding their own business, so far there has been no sign of a gang being there. Asuma then lead his students to a nearby inn where they can stay for a couple of days or even weeks, depending on how long this mission might take.

Asuma rang the bell on the counter since there was no one behind it, a middle-aged man then emerged from upstairs moments later. "Ahhh customers, I apologize for the hold-up as I was cleaning some rooms up above. How may I be of service?"

"We'd like to occupy two rooms please, but how many beds are there in one room though?" Asuma asked

"We only provide rooms with one bed or two beds, your choice sir" the man offered

Asuma contemplated his decision, he was sure that he wanted a room all for himself which means he'll get a room with a single bed. Which only leaves his three students, it's up to them to decide their sleeping arrangements. 'This will be a good mini-exercise for them, they need to learn the art of compromising' Asuma thought to himself.

"Alright, I'll take a room with a single bed and they'll have a room with two beds. You guys decide how your sleeping arrangements would be, and I don't want to hear any ruckus or fighting. Am I understood?" Asuma clarified himself to which his students got him loud and clear

- In Their Room -

Shino, Ino, and Naruto were all staring at the two beds inside the room they'll be sleeping in. Both beds were big enough to fit two people but it wasn't that easy. All three of them wanted to secure a spot in a bed themselves but Asuma told them that he doesn't want to hear not a single peep from them in the case they argue.

"Alright… How do you guys want to settle this?" Ino asked

"Perhaps we could merge the two beds together and form a massive bed and then divide it into three equal sections" Shino suggested

Ino was going to consider her teammate's idea but she then replied that they shouldn't be messing with the arrangement of things inside the room without permission. After that, Ino continued to come up with solutions.

Naruto then turned his gaze to the right side of the room and saw a closet, he opened it and saw a futon and extra pillows. "Hey guys, look what I found. A futon and extra pillows"

"Oh then we'll use that, two people will sleep on the bed and the last one would sleep on the floor using the futon and spare pillows"

"I am fine with that idea, though we still have one more problem. Who will be sleeping on the bed and on the floor?" Shino asked

Naruto and Ino locked eyes and quickly dashed to one of the two beds, "DIBS!" both blondes yelled in unison thus leaving Shino all alone.

"It seems that I will be sleeping on the floor then" Shino said in a monotonous tone

Ino and Naruto felled bad for Shino after that, Ino turned her attention to Naruto and tried to guilt-trip him. "How could you Naruto, taking the bed all for yourself" she said whilst smirking.

"Now hold on… You ran to the bed as quickly as I did, so why don't you give Shino your bed and you sleep on the floor" Ino retorted

"No, you give your bed" Naruto returned

"No, you!"

"No, you!"

"No, you!"

"NO, YOU!" Ino yelled a bit too loudly, she realized this and quickly covered her mouth. She listened closely to check if they were in trouble, after a few moments it was safe to say that they were good. She sighed in relief and returned her attention to Naruto who was facing her, she then thought of a brilliant idea. "Why don't you two share beds? You're both guys after all" Ino suggested

Naruto was about to agree but then remembered Shino's bugs, he was sure that he didn't want creepy-crawlies on him during his sleep. The mere thought made his spine shiver, and Naruto declined Ino's idea. Naruto truly felt bad that Shino didn't get to decide, he also knew there was no way Ino would share her bed with him and he knew damn well that Ino wouldn't be able to get proper rest if she slept on the floor. He then got off the bed and sighed and approached Shino.

"You take the bed Shino, I'll sleep on the floor"

Shino was about to refuse but Naruto argued that it was alright since he was used to sleeping on the floor anyway. Shino nodded and handed him back the futon and pillows he found in the closet.

Once that was settled, they left most of their stuff in their respective room and went downstairs. There they saw Asuma standing by the counter.

- With Asuma -

Asuma rung the bell on the counter to call the attention of the inn-keeper, the middle-aged man returned after a couple of seconds. "Yes yes, are there any problems with the rooms? I hope not" the man said

"Oh no, the rooms are alright. I was just wondering if I could ask you a couple of questions"

"And those questions would be?..."

"By any chance, do you have any information about the gang that has been dwelling in this town lately?"

"I uhhh…. I-I'd rather not talk about them sir…" the man said nervously as if someone was listening to his every word

"Don't worry uhhh mister…"

"My name is Hirabayashi Kunio, you can call me Kunio if you'd like"

"I see, well my name is Sarutobi Asuma Kunio-san. And don't worry, everything you say to me is in confidence. Apparently, someone from this town sent a request to Konoha to handle the gang" Asuma explained.

"Ahhh I see… W-Well… They have been here for months now, the flow of business decreased ever since they came here and took control of our docks and piers"

"And do you know who's in charge of the gang?"

"I heard their leader is called Gato or something…"

"And this Gato guy… Where can I find him?"

"That I do not know, unfortunately. I apologize" the man said

"It's quite alright, thank you for your cooperation Kunio-san. We'll be sure to take care of this once and for all"

"I'm glad I could be of assistance and thank you very much Sarutobi-san"

"It's what we do" Asuma said while nodding.

Asuma then approached his three students who were waiting for him at the door, Ino asked what was that all about to which he explained the information they knew so far. He explained to them that shinobi are expected that they are capable of gathering information from whatever source they could get their hands on. Of course, this includes making sure that the information they got was reliable, false information always leads to disaster after all.

"We are heading to a tavern, all towns probably have one. And if you're looking for information, that's the place to be" he told them

"So are we like… Going to the tavern and ask question?" Naruto asked

"Not exactly Naruto… You see, people in taverns don't like being interrogated. A shinobi was only two options, one is to coax a person into giving you the information in exchange for something. Or… You can do it the hard way and force the information out of a person, though this method is rather risky and more often than not it's stupid. But both works, it just depends on the situation and your preference I suppose" Asuma explained to Naruto

Naruto nodded and understood his sensei's explanation but Asuma's explanation gave Naruto more questions than answers, Asuma didn't really mind it. In fact, he encouraged it. He was glad that Naruto was eager to learn more and by extension, his teammates were also learning. That is if they are listening at all.

"Only two options?... That's it?" Naruto wondered

"Well in this context, yes. But there are more ways of getting the information you need, it just depends on the resources you have. You can have an informant that leaks information to you but you need to make sure your informant's information is good and if that person could be trusted, usually they are but they won't hesitate to bite the hand that feeds them. You can also have spies planted somewhere but doing that takes time and is costly most of the time, but the reward would be a steady stream of information as long as your spy's cover isn't blown. Another method involves shinobi like Ino" Asuma said and this caught Naruto's attention.

"Ino?..."

"Yeah, it's called the Torture and Interrogation Force. Her father works there and is one of the best in their field. The Yamanaka Clan is well-known for being a clan of mind-walkers, you can kidnap a person that has the information you want. Bring them to T&I (Torture and Interrogation) to make them talk, if they're still not talking then someone who can read minds can enter said person's mind and forcefully take the information you need. There are more methods but those are the usual methods" Asuma returned

Naruto was fascinated with the process of gathering information and he understood its importance in running an operation. They continued walking until they saw a building that looked like a tavern since there were a lot more people congregated there compared to other places.

As they were walking, they saw a sign that confirms their suspicion of the building being a tavern. Asuma explained to them what they needed to do before entering the premises, "I want you three to use the Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Technique) so that you three could watch how I do it, take notes kiddies. If a server asks if you three want any drinks, just say you're still waiting for a friend, got it?" he said to the three of them to which they nodded.

Shino, Ino, and Naruto went into an alleyway to perform the jutsu to change their appearances. Naruto used his usual disguise whenever buying packaged ramen or the last time he went grocery shopping with Ino, Shino simply transformed into a bald middle-aged man, and Ino transformed into a fairly tall and lean woman with brown hair. Naruto saw her transformation and couldn't help but notice how she kind of based her transformation on her mother. Not that all three of them were properly disguised, they each went inside the tavern alone as to avoid raising suspicion. Asuma didn't bother to change his look but rather simply took off his vest and hitai-ate.

- Inside The Tavern -

The three of them all sat together in a booth not too far away from the bar where Asuma was seated. They sat there so that they could observe how their sensei is going to gather information. It wasn't loud inside the tavern, it was the opposite thought it is an indisputable fact that there were still a lot of people inside the tavern. After a few minutes, a server approached their booth and asked for their orders, Ino did as they were told by their sensei to say that they were still waiting for a friend. Asuma was right, it worked like a charm.

- With Asuma -

Asuma approached the bar to talk to the bartender, the bar wasn't completely occupied. There was another guy sitting there who was minding his own business, the man looked at Asuma as he sat on one of the chairs. Asuma ignored the look he was getting from the stranger and ordered a drink.

"I'll have some sake" Asuma said

The bartender behind the bar then took a saucer and poured some sake in it and gave it to Asuma

"Would that be all sir?"

Asuma drank all of it and ordered one more, he then asked the bartender a question while he was preparing his second drink. "By any chance… Do you know where a guy can find someone named Gato" he said

"Gato? I may or may not know something about the guy… But what's in it for me?" the bartender asked

Asuma then took out a roll of Ryo, "Perhaps this can stir up your memory then" he said as he placed it on the counter. The bartender took the roll and gave him his second drink, he cleared his throat and told Asuma that he now remembers a person with the name of Gato.

"Yeah, I think I know a guy… Wears a suit and sunglasses, is probably five feet tall, and awfully rich. Usually spends his time in the local brothel. And if he's not there, then I guess he's in his bigass fort located in the woods" the bartender explained

"I see… Anything else I should know?" Asuma asked once more

"I don't know… My memory is becoming a bit hazy again" the bartender replied

Asuma glared at the man and took out another roll of money to bribe the bartender into talking, "He's usually escorted by his bodyguards and his fort is heavily defended, the fort is north from here. You'll know you're there when you see it, it's not that hard to spot it from afar" the bartender added.

Once satisfied, Asuma drank his final saucer of sake and left his payment on the counter as he left the bar. He gave a quick look at his students who were sitting nearby in order to signal for them to leave the tavern since they got what they needed there. Team 10 left the tavern and decided to grab something to eat before returning to the inn they were staying at.

- At The Inn -

After eating an early dinner, Team 10 discussed what they needed to do now that they know where the gang's leader is hanging around. First, they'll need to find the guy and study his usual routine so that they can find a window of opportunity to deal with Gato. There are two types of gangs, the first one is a gang that is driven by loyalty, and the other is driven by money. Judging from the description of the bartender earlier, Asuma assumed that Gato's gang is the latter. Take out the main man that provides money to his underlings and the whole gang/operation crumbles not unless Gato has some extremely loyal henchmen under his employment which may be a possibility.

Once the team meeting was over, Asuma left his students' room and went into his own to get some rest since their team has a lot to do in the coming days. Shino, Ino, and Naruto were now alone in their room. All three of them were pretty tired from all the traveling they did, so they decided to call it a day and got some rest. They got a lot to do and they're going to need all the energy they can get.

Extra

It was late at night and Naruto still couldn't sleep, he honestly thought that he could sleep on the floor but it seems that he was just used to the floor in his apartment. Naruto kept tossing and turning on his futon in an attempt to find a comfortable position to sleep but alas he just couldn't find the right position. While Naruto was doing this, Ino woke up because of Naruto. She turned her attention to her fellow blonde and asked why the hell was he still awake.

"Could you keep it down Naruto? I'm trying to sleep here, and why are you still awake?" Ino asked

"Sorry Ino, I just can't seem to get some sleep on the floor. This futon is too think and it hurts my back when I lie down" Naruto whispered

Ino looked at Naruto's situation for a bit, Ino sighed once she was done analyzing her teammate. She got up and approached Naruto, she took his futon and rolled it into a tube. Naruto was confused as to what Ino was doing.

"Uhhh... Ino, what are you doing with my futon?"

"Just shut up and wait for me to finish" she said

Once Ino was done rolling up the futon, she then placed the tube in the middle of her bed to form a wall. "There, you sleep on the right side, and I'll sleep on the left side" Ino said to Naruto as she dragged him to bed.

Naruto wasn't expecting Ino to share her bed with him, she also understood by Naruto didn't want to share a bed with Shino. No offense to him, his bugs still creeped out the both of them.

Ino and Naruto were now lying on the bed with a division separating the two of them, "Thanks Ino, really appreciate you compromising for me" Naruto said to the platinum blond. Ino gave him a curt answer since she was really sleepy at the time, "Don't mention it but don't get any perverted ideas Naruto" she said to him. This flustered Naruto as a result, "W-What? I'm not a pervert Ino, thank you very much" he responded. Ino giggled and said goodnight to Naruto as she returned to sleep. Naruto said the same as both blondes continued to slumber in preparation for tomorrow.

(A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the super late upload. Didn't expect to get the flu which made recovery take longer. But I am feeling much better now, thank you for the kind words and wishing me to get well, I really appreciated it and it made me smile during the times I felt like a huge sack of shit hahaha. Shoutout to Atomsk the Pirate King and thundertail ^^. Anyway, that's the end of this chapter. Anyway, as I said less fluff more progression. I hope yall are still enjoying this fic and sorry for the long wait. I am truly sorry. Thanks for the continued support, I really appreciate it cheers ^^)