Asuma's mouth twitched, finding a wry curve. "Anytime," he said, meaning it, and didn't bother to throw her the jar of salve before she ducked out the door. She didn't want it, and she wouldn't use it.

He got up, unfolding himself from the uncomfortable plastic chair, now smeared with soot, and went to lean against the doorframe. In the controlled chaos of the hospital, Tsume was easy to pick out; still dressed in scarlet, skin made shiny with burns, feet bandaged from toes to mid-calf. She was collecting people as she moved: Kuromaru, hip-height and streaked with soot, all four paws bandaged; two more Inuzuka clan-members carrying children, obviously ready to be discharged; another messenger to go along with the first...

Clan leader.

Well, hot damn.

At a loose end, Asuma watched them until they vanished out the main doors, and didn't quite know what to do with himself. His own injuries were just a collection of scattered burns, some badly singed hair, and irreparable damage to his only dress-shirt; nothing that needed a hospital stay. He'd already had an oxygen mask thrown at him by an overly-anxious medic.

Probably, if it was still going, he should go to that council dinner.

There'd be a burial party at the Inuzuka compound tonight. Asuma couldn't remember if they kept their dead within the clan grounds, like the Uchiha and Hyuuga did, or if they brought Konoha's morticians in and used the village graveyards.

Clan grounds, probably. He'd bet the relatives did the digging.

There'd be houses to rebuild, wounded to care for, homeless to provide for, patrols to catch any sparks of fire still burning. The gas lines would need to be re-laid, along with two new gas tanks, and fenced back to stop more kids from practicing jutsu around them.

Ninja in the field would need to be contacted, if any of their family had died.

Asuma thought about Tsume, with her burned feet and her pretty dress and her bizarre chakra; her dog with one eye and a habit of bringing Asuma bleeding meaty treats; her clan, which obviously hadn't quite gotten the hang of functioning without her...

"Hell with it," he muttered, tossing the salve onto the abandoned bed, and went to help.