Sakura followed Sasuke and Jugo through the small village at the eastern edge of the Land of Earth. She carried Sarada swaddled in a sling in front of her chest.

Though Sakura knew Jugo had a dangerous side, the only thing she saw from him was his unwavering loyalty to Sasuke. This extended to her and her daughter. Sometimes when Sakura needed an extra hand, he would hold Sarada for her. He was always so gentle with her.

But when Sasuke found out, he was not happy. He warned Sakura that Jugo was prone to raging fits, and she should not let the man ever touch Sarada again. From then on, Sasuke seemed to get nervous if Jugo even looked in the baby's direction. But he did not refuse Jugo's offer to travel with them to the Land of Earth.

They arrived at a small house in the back of the village. A white haired man with lavender eyes and sharply chiseled teeth approached them, carry an enormous sword, which looked like it was possibly the same size as him.

"Suigetsu." Sasuke greeted the man. "Where is this informant?"

"Sasuke." Suigetsu walked past Sasuke and stopped in front of Sakura, staring hungrily at her. "Where'd you get the hottie? This is definitely a step up from Karin."

Sakura opened her mouth to say something smart back. But Sasuke stepped between her and shark boy, blocking Suigetsu's line of sight. "This is my wife. Sakura Uchiha."

Catching the hint, Suigetsu put up his hands in surrender. "Sorry man. Didn't know you got married."

"He has a little girl now too." Jugo added, jovially.

"The informant!?" Sasuke demanded, turning the conversation back to business.

"He's inside." Suigetsu moved over to the house and opened the door. The inside of the house opened up into one large room. There was a bed pushed against the far wall which contained a man lying on his back.

"He was half alive when they found him." Suigetsu explained. "He's not awake enough right now to tell us anything."

Sakura attempted to move past the others. "I can heal him."

Sasuke stuck his hand out in front of her to stop her. He asked, Suigetsu. "Who is this man?"

"He's an Iwagakure ninja, named Dai. He was out on a mission for his village… until he encountered –what he has been calling a ghost."

"A ghost?" Sakura asked.

"He said the spirit entered his body and drained him of chakra. That's how he ended up in this state."

Sakura and Sasuke looked at each other. She said, "Let me inspect him, huh?"

Sasuke nodded confirmation and moved his hand away.

Sakura removed Sarada's sling and handed her to Sasuke. She moved over to the man. He was young, twenty at most. He still wore his ninja headband. He did not have any bruising or cuts on the outside of his body. But he was just barely conscious.

"Mom?" He mumbled to Sakura as she kneeled down next to the bed.

"It's ok. I'm here to help you." She reached her hands out over his body and started to scan. Dai grabbed at her wrists and started to squeeze.

"You!" Dai's eyes opened wide, and he stared wildly at Sakura.

Sasuke drew his sword and pointed it down against the man's throat. "Let her go."

"Sasuke. It's ok. He's just delirious." Sakura moved Sasuke's sword away from the man's throat.

"Just lay back now, Dai." She pushed the young man back down on the bed. Her strength and soothing tone, easily subduing him.

"Calm down man. It looks like your woman has it handled." Suigetsu said from behind Sasuke, chewing on tooth pick. "Maybe we should go outside until she's done."

"Yes. Good idea." Sakura agreed.

"We're not leaving her alone…" Sasuke began.

"I'll stay and watch." Jugo suggested.

"Sarada needs air, Sasuke." Sakura said, prying the man's hands from her wrist and then continuing to scan his body. "Jugo will be enough back up."

Sasuke finally relented and followed Suigetsu out of the door with Sarada in tow.

Sakura tied her hair back and began to work on the man. He had a significant amount of internal injuries. It was as if some one got inside of his body and punched and kicked all of his organs. She was no Hyuga or a sensory type, but through her medical ninjutsu, she could tell if someone was significantly low on chakra. And this man was running close to zero.

"Did Suigetsu say how long ago all of this happened?" Sakura asked Jugo, frowning.

"He did not say specifically… but it was at least ten days ago. That was when Sasuke got the message from Suigetsu."

"Strange." Sakura said.

"What's strange?"

"He should have recovered his chakra by now." Sakura looked into the man's pupils. They were constricting and dilating in an oscillatory manner. "It's like someone blocked his chakra points from inside his body, and then removed his chakra in a large concentration.

I can heal all the internal injuries, but he is going to be without most of his chakra for quite awhile."

When Sakura was done, she let Sasuke and Suigetsu back in the house. "He's more awake now, but still very weak."

Sasuke pulled a chair up to the Dai's bedside. "We are looking for a woman. Long blue black hair and white eyes. We believe she has a jutsu which allows her to enter the bodies of her victims and manipulate their chakra –does this sound familiar to you."

Dai's eyes open wide with fear as Sasuke said this. "S-she just appeared in front of me. She had long blue black hair and white eyes but her left eye had a black x in the middle. She wore a scratched out leaf ninja headband. Then she disappeared again, and I could feel her inside of me. I could feel her draining the life out of me! It was the ghost ninja! She was possessing me!"

The young man was screaming by this point. Sakura waved Jugo over to hold the man down as she injected him with a sedative from her bag.

"That's Hinata." Sasuke said.