They say everything happens in threes. Kakashi has never been one to believe in magical numbers or minuscule superstitions, but on the day of their mission, his faith changes.
Their target was Yusujichi Okigawa.
Their mission: to stop him from fleeing Land of Rain and take him into custody under the authority of Hidden Leaf by any means necessary.
A wanted criminal overlord, he had been escaping and evading arrest for months; but of course, with two of Leaf's top shinobi on the case, that streak ended today.
Or so they'd thought.
Okigawa knew of their presence, had known for the entire time they'd been tailing him (did Leaf have a spy in their midst?), and unfortunately for them, he'd come prepared.
Kakashi dodges one bomb tagged kunai, then another. He snatches the third one and redirects it back at his assailant, all the while attempting to keep tabs on the other nine of Okigawa's entourage.
"Oof- gack!"
Make that eight.
He is aware of Sakura behind him, who is plenty occupied with three enemies of her own, but he knows she can handle it; if she couldn't, he wouldn't have asked the Fifth to bring her along. The ground quakes beneath his feet - beneath all their feet - and he doesn't have to turn around to know she's pummeled at least one of, if not all, of them. The screams and cries of pain that ensue prove his theory correct.
He turns toward the one he identifies as the leader of the group, who ushers Yusujichi away from the battlefield to flee. Kakashi tosses a distracting kunai at the tree to their left, and the limber male reacts quickly; he throws out three of his own, each with their own unique jutsu tag, and Kakashi just barely evades them. He dashes toward their target, intent on preventing them from getting away again, when a sharp, sudden pain pierces his back.
It's like a bite, really, a strong pinch of the nerve, but he falls to the ground regardless. It's when he finds he can't move that he realizes what's happened, and by then, it's too late; his eyes widen as he catches glimpse of the enemy ninja he hadn't seen descending down upon him from the trees, kunai in hand. He squeezes his eyes shut, not wanting to see it happen-
"NYUGH!"
But the blow never comes.
It can't be any more than a single second that passes before he reluctantly opens his eyes, catching sight of none other than Sakura standing over him, fist frozen in mid-air, torso twisted in the direction of her punch.
She doesn't look at him, chest heaving as she glares murderously at the crumpled human being who is now countless yards away, and he has never seen her so determined.
In that moment, he has no doubt; he would trust Sakura Haruno with his life before anyone else.
