Disclaimers: Slam Dunk and all its characters belong to Takehito Inoue.

Warnings: OOC Sakuragi and Rukawa.

Pairings: RuHana (Still haven't decided whether I will put the others in.)





As everyone expected, Sakuragi faced Akagi in the jump ball.

Kakuta threw the ball upward and the two boys jumped up. Of course, Sakuragi got to the ball first. He threw the ball in Rukawa's direction and the pale-faced boy sank in two easy points.

The juniors wasted no time in falling back into defensive formation. Miyagi had the ball and was faced with the tough guard of Rukawa.

But, as he was thinking of the right strategy to get through Rukawa, his opponent had already stolen the ball.

Rukawa ran towards the other end of the court with the ball.

The seniors rushed back to defend. But they were all running after Rukawa. So they were very unprepared when he passed the ball before Miyagi could even set up his guard against him. The pass was very strong and they thought that it would be a turnover. But, instead, it landed in the safe hands of Sakuragi who scored a two-pointer.

Sakuragi looked at Akagi and smiled, "We're gonna win, Akagi."

It was a statement and the assurance behind it was almost unnerving. So, Akagi said to his teammates, "Miyagi, you have to pass the ball around even more, now that Rukawa's guarding you. Mitsui, just guard Sakuragi, everyone knows that you are more than a match for him. And if Miyagi needs help, double team Rukawa immediately, because he is the most dangerous member of the other team."

With those reminders, they continued to play.

1 minute and 35 seconds remaining in the first half and the score was already 50-37, in favor of the juniors. Since most of the points were scored by Rukawa, the seniors decided to double team him and sacrifice guarding one freshman.

Rukawa was dribbling the ball when Mitsui and Miyagi defended against him. He cast a side glance and caught Sakuragi's eye. The redhead knew what he had in mind and since Mitsui had left him wide open to guard Rukawa, he was able to run towards Rukawa without any hindrances.

'How naïve,' Rukawa thought as he passed the ball through his legs and was received by Sakuragi from behind him and he prepared to shoot from the two point zone. Mitsui jumped up to prevent Sakuragi from shooting. But to everyone's great surprise (except Rukawa), it was a feint and Sakuragi took a step back so that he was just over the three point line then he delivered a perfect three-pointer.

"Three.point.shot." Ayako and Haruko whispered in awe.

When the ball went in, Rukawa approached Sakuragi and said, "Nice shot Hanamichi."

"It was nothing Kaede," was the reply. They smiled at each other and exchanged high fives.

Everyone just stared at them blankly.

Anzai stood up and said something to Kakuta. He blew the whistle and yelled, "The coach is canceling the match!"

The 5 seniors dropped on the bench and 3 of the juniors team followed suit. But Sakuragi and Rukawa just stood there, as if they had not played at all.

"Don't you guys.even want to.sit down?" Akagi asked the two, in between ragged breaths as he and his team took their well earned rest on the bench.

Both Sakuragi and Rukawa shook their heads.

This shocked the whole team, obviously.

"You guys aren't tired yet?" Ayako asked incredulously, remembering how serious the seniors guarded and scored against the younger team. "I mean, you've been playing for like at least 15 minutes and against Akagi-sempai and the others..." Ayako left the sentence hanging to see the reaction of the two.

Rukawa just stared at her blankly while Sakuragi asked in a sincerely puzzled tone, "Why would we be tired Ayako? If the seniors don't play seriously then we won't get tired that easily. So if you'll excuse us. We would like to have a one-on-one match for a while."

So saying, Sakuragi dribbled the ball and, together with Rukawa, jogged back to the court.

The seniors looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

"They thought we weren't serious?" Miyagi asked Akagi, dumbfounded. "We gave it our best, just who do those two think they are?"

"Those two have improved a lot," said Mitsui. "Especially Sakuragi. He's become really good in faking, fade away jumpers, three pointers and even his defense." He shook his head, "With those two on the team, we have a really big chance in the IH tournament."

"Yeah," everyone agreed.

Then they looked back at the two rookies who were about to face each other in the court. Though the two looked and acted so differently from before, everyone still expected the bickering between the two boys.

"So, we have to face each other after all," Sakuragi said.

"Yeah," replied Rukawa.

Sakuragi had the ball and was dribbling it before Rukawa. He had just passed the three point line and Rukawa was already guarding him.

There was a look on their faces, which was not present in the juniors- seniors match. Interest? Challenge? Did it mean that those two were bored when they faced their seniors?

Akagi, Miyagi, Mitsui and Kogure shared that same thought at that moment.

Sakuragi dribbled the ball quite effortlessly when he suddenly surged through Rukawa's defense at a great speed and scored the first two points of the game.

Rukawa did not look surprised at all but the whole team looked so surprised.

The two boys noticed the whole team's surprise so they stopped their one-on- one and went to where the whole team was resting.

"I guess we owe you an explanation, don't we?" Sakuragi asked.



TBC

Author's note:

There, the fourth chapter's already up. I'm sorry for leaving you guys hanging on for the explanation of the two rookies' weird behavior. But I'm too busy. So I had no choice but to cut the chapter off for a while.

Sorry. I think I'll be able to post the 5th part within the week so wait till then.