Because the only reason we got him out of that hole the first time was because I had Minato on my side. Wouldn't have been able to do it without him -- not the first time, and definitely not every step after. He's still getting better, y'know. It takes a while, and it takes more than me.

[He's quiet for a second, because saying it out loud makes it real, but he does it anyway.]

Minato's gone. Maybe it'll be a month, or maybe he'll never come back at all; you never know with this place. But I'm more interested in making sure I got my bases covered than waiting around. It's kinda hard to describe how important Minato is to Ken, but... well, you must have heard him talk about him.

[Like when Minato smiles, everything's suddenly better -- and now that power's gone. He takes a deep breath.]

But - and no offense - I'm pretty sure you're second in line when it comes to people who're important to Ken. Which means that if this goes bad, losing three of his team in a couple weeks, I'm gonna need your help.

[And that's need, not want; if it was just want, he wouldn't be calling. But he knows the way taking care of Ken goes, and that means he knows that it's not the sort of task he can tackle without having someone else around to bounce ideas off of, or someone to ask how they think he's doing. Ken's a team effort, he really is.]