"You're really kind, Sakura-chan," Naruto said quietly, watching her tend to a man with severe electrical burns that covered his upper body. "You have all these important things to think about, but you're still doing everything you can to help, ya know...?"
Nobody would have blamed Sakura if she had ignored the wounded and simply gone to sleep. After all, as Hokage, she had plenty of important responsibilities and was required to make difficult decisions that demanded the full extent of her mental faculties. She could just as easily have left the healing to the other medics, and yet here she was, forcing herself to stay awake late into the night.
"I'm not such a great person," Sakura said miserably. "I'm just doing this to keep my mind off things… it's selfish and irresponsible, really."
It was taking all she had to keep her hands from trembling, just thinking of all those lives lost in the blink of an eye... and that Shiranami bastard, that shit-eating grin he had flashed her when she had found him and Hotaru standing in the middle of the crater their jutsu had left behind! And to think he wanted to do it again! He was actually eager to repeat that bloodless massacre!
Sakura wished she had never met him, but at the same time, she knew it had to be done... left to their own devices, those ten thousand Iwa-nin would have burnt the Land of Fire to the ground. If there had been a better way, surely she would have thought of it...
"Maybe Madara was right after all…" Sakura muttered to herself bitterly.
And now, the Leaf's forces were about to engage the Stone's and Cloud's combined armies in a head-on clash. The north-eastern battlefield was far bloodier than the north-western one, but she was not particularly worried about her own side, given how many elites with anti-army capabilities she had at her disposal; Naruto, Sasuke, Orochimaru (who was still missing in action), Jiraiya... but she would have to kill again, squash enemies underfoot like mere ants...
A distant boom suddenly echoed across the night.
Sakura glanced out the window. It was still very late at night… or rather, very early in the morning; the sun had not yet risen above the horizon. Beyond the ryokan's lampposts, the darkness remained impenetrable, and yet, upon hearing that loud noise, Sakura couldn't help but feel a hint of apprehension…
"So, d'you think you could have a look-see at my seal, Sakura-chan?" Naruto said. "Oh, and that Chino girl did something weird to my brain, too. I can't even hear Nine-Tails' voice in my head any more, y'know?"
Fortunately, the System had granted Sakura some knowledge of fūinjutsu, and she had studied the subject further to better maintain the stability of her Celestial Empress Lotus Seal, but unfortunately, that had only made her more aware of just how robust the Four Symbols and Eight Trigrams Style sealing techniques truly were.
"Maybe if I could get you pregnant," Sakura said pensively, casually dislodging the blood clot in Naruto's brain with her Sharingan genjutsu. "According to the village's records, that's how the fake Madara ki… extracted the Nine-Tails from your mum… she was weakened from childbirth, and the seal weakened accordingly…"
'If I remember correctly, wasn't Sasuke your first kiss?' the Nine-Tails said. 'He's looking to revive his clan, so I'm sure that if you asked him nicely…'
"Yeah, not happening," Naruto said decisively. "Also, who starts a conversation like that!?" he retorted. "We haven't spoken to each other in days, and that's the first thing you tell me, ya know!?"
Basically, the Nine-Tails was inextricably bound to Naruto's chakra pathway network, since they had been stuck together for so many years. Even without a seal, the Nine-Tails would still exist within Naruto by default... he would simply be free to leave whenever he wished. That being said, once the fox moved beyond a certain distance from Naruto, he would snap back to his host like a rubber band released after being stretched taut.
"I'm sorry…" Sakura sniffed despondently. "I was just trying to find a solution to your problem…"
'Now look at what you've done,' the Nine-Tails sighed. 'You've made your little girlfriend upset.'
"I was talking to you, ya know!" Naruto shot back. "I mean, no, not you, Sakura-chan, but— argh!"
Sakura giggled, causing her breasts to jiggle.
"I know, I was just teasing you; I'm still connected to your chakra pathway network through my Sharingan, so I know you were just talking to your furry little problem," she said, laughing coquettishly. "And just so you know, I can hear e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g you two are saying~♪"
Naruto was mortified. "Sakura-chan!" he exclaimed in dismay. "That's private—"
Unfortunately for him, Naruto never got to finish his sentence, as without warning, an ear-splitting thunderclap shook the building.
KRAKOOOOM!
Blinding blue light streamed through the window, and for an instant, night seemed to turn into day. Sakura rushed to the window as the light began to fade, just in time to see the ruins of the inn's main pavilion, where bolts of lightning still arced here and there around what appeared to be large, metallic cube…
"What the…" Sakura said, frowning. "What is that?"
Cries of "Enemy attack!" filled the air as both the Leaf shinobi on patrol and those sleeping peacefully in their rooms rushed out to see what had caused the damage to the ryokan's main building. The Hidden Leaf knew the Hidden Cloud possessed the means to teleport inanimate objects across great distances; just from the arcs of lightning surrounding the payload, it was clear this unwelcome delivery was the result of their Heavenly Transfer Jutsu.
Incidentally, the Tensō no Jutsu was a technique the Hidden Cloud had developed out of necessity, since Kumogakure enjoyed invading neighbouring countries while their greatest rivals Iwagakure loved to raid their supply lines whenever their backs were turned.
So, the only question was: what was this Pandora's Box Kumo had sent them?
"Did they accidentally send their supplies too far, lol?"
"Maybe it's a bomb… Kumo've allied with Iwa, so I wouldn't put it past them…"
"Bomb defusal squad, coming through!"
"STOP!" Sakura shouted, thrusting her head out through the window. "GET AWAY FROM THAT THING!"