Author's Note 2: I cannot believe I am doing this now, I mean I do have other things on hand to do but I simply decided to revise this fic of mine, revamping it into something better. Well, here goes nothing and on a side note, the sequel up and running now.

Title: Lost and Found

Genre: comedy/general/romance

Rating: PG-13/ T

Pairing: Fujima Kenji/Sakuragi Hanamichi

Summary: Fujima Kenji and Sakuragi Hanamichi used to be childhood playmates; the two of them ended up losing contact with one another after some unforeseen situation occurred that resulted in Sakuragi's move from the neighborhood.

Disclaimer: No, I do not own Slam Dunk nor its' characters.

Last time on Lost and Found…

Hanamichi stared at the retreating figure as he questioned himself the reason for the Shoyo's Captain odd request. For some reason, he had a weird sensation nagging at him in the very back of his mind, urging him to sift through his childhood memories.

Throughout the journey back home, he had been awfully silent and appearing so deep in thoughts that no one else dared to interrupt his thoughts, fearing of facing his wrath. He maintain his silence over the Shoyo's Captain unusual request, brushing off Kogure's query with some unsuspecting reasoning of the former reason for paying them a visit at the holding room.

Chapter 4- Memories of a child!

The moment the train door opened, Hanamichi was out of the door before anyone could react. Most of them appeared to be baffled by Hanamichi's strange behavior. Hanamichi dashes out of the station avoiding vehicles on the road, pushing past his own team mates. Even going to the extent of ignoring one Rukawa Kaede remarks of him being an idiot, surprising anyone who knew of his underlying rivalry feel to the stoic teen.

"Hey, what's the mad rush about…Sakuragi?" The redhead could hear his best friend, Mito Yohei of the Sakuragi Squad calling out to him from behind but he could hardly care less for the moment of time. There was only one thing on his mind, and that was to reach home in the shortest time possible.

"…What the hell was going on with Sakuragi?" Takamiya, another member of the Sakuragi Squad questioned Yohei only to receive a shrug in response.

"Who knows…?" Mito Yohei shrugged before frowning at the redhead who is now disappearing down the streets, and then turning his attention back to the rest of the squad members and suggested a trip to the local arcade.

Sakuragi Hanamichi throws the door leading to his apartment unit open with a loud 'bang' before kicking it close with his shoes hind. Immediately after the door was kicked closed, the redhead threw his bag down in a corner of the room and sifted through his drawers for his photo album which he had put away after his parent's divorce years ago.

The photo album had been a constant reminder to him of his friends and family back when his life was full of happiness, when his parents were always around him. Before the divorcing of his parents tore his happiness apart and his father resorting to immense in alcoholism and wasted away the remaining of his life.

He was forced to grow up when he was supposed to be enjoying his childhood days, but with his parents divorcing act…it was impossible for him to remain naive still. His parents asked him of his decision on whom to follow after their divorce, and he felt torn between them. Knowing his mother's intent was to head back to Australia and he had friends here in Japan that he doesn't wish to leave behind, he chose his father.

And when his mother left, he broke down literally into tears because he knew he would have preferred a life with his mother as compared to his father. Still, he thought by remaining in Japan he could still have his friends around him then, but the last straw had been when his father sold off the house and moved him to a shabby town area.

Unable to cope with the hurt he was feeling back then, he had chosen to stash away his childhood photo album which had been full of his happy memories. He had hidden and buried them trying to forget, to drown the memories. At one point of time, he had even contemplated on the idea of burning the album, but somehow deep within his heart he was unwilling to do just that. Hence, he had opted for the option of burying them deep inside his drawer and vowed that unless circumstances deemed it necessary he will not touched it again.

With trembling hands Sakuragi Hanamichi reached for the hidden photo album, his chest tightens as he flipped through the album looking for his childhood playmate's photo. The moment his eyes landed upon the picture containing the two boys with arms slung over each other's shoulders smiling brightly towards the camera, all the suppressed memories from the childhood days came flooding back to his mind. He could practically feel all the joy, pain and laughter shared between them now that the memories were back and overwhelming him to the extent that he had nearly wept in silent tears.

That was when everything, every piece of puzzles began to fell into place; and the realization that his best friend Kenji back in those days had been the very same Fujima Kenji, the current Captain and coach of the 'Shoyo' basketball team who had played him earlier on in the match sets in on him. His world shook as he realized that his friend had remembered him after all these years and had came to him with the proposition of meeting in private, so many emotions rushed upwards to him that thrown him off altogether.

The shock about how Kenji had still remembered him after all these years, and also the feeling of elated joy that Kenji had made the first move by approaching him to meet up in private. Also there was an underlying hint of anger being directed at him-self for not recognizing his childhood friend until now...

Curling himself into a ball at the foot of his futon, Sakuragi Hanamichi cried for the first time after all these years. He hasn't cried when his mother left him for another country, he hasn't cried either when his father died of a heart attack few years back. He never cried when so many girls had rejected him for a date in the process crushing his pride, he definitely hasn't cried a drop of tears when he woke from a nightmare of his father dying. And yet here he was breaking down with tears as he remembered his childhood memories.

It seems to be quite a few moments later, when Sakuragi Hanamichi found himself crying to bed. With the exhaustion of the previous match played against Shoyo High Basketball Team and the sudden onslaught of emotional breakdown, Sakuragi Hanamichi slept through the day like a baby, not even bothering to wake for dinner.

TBC…

Date completed: 19/02/05

Date edited: 1/3/2013