I. AM. SOOOOOOO. SORRY.

"Sakura!"

Sakura skidded into Nori's room to find her digging through her closet, dressed only in her favorite hip-hugging black pants and a bra. "What is it, nii-san?"

"Did you borrow my shirt again?"

"That green one? No, nii-san, I haven't worn it."

"Damn it! What am I going to wear now?! Fuck!" Nori anxiously began pacing.

'Not a date my ass.' Sakura smirked, then said innocently, "Why don't you wear that blue one?"

"What blue one?"

"That tank top. You know...the one with the dragon on it?"

"Oh! Yeah, that's perfect! Thank you, Sakura!"

Nori rushed headlong into her closet, searching for the afore mentioned tank top, and Sakura sank down onto Nori's bed. "Why are you so nervous, nii-san?"

"I...I'm not nervous. I just don't want him to think badly of me."

"Please. Sensei couldn't think any higher of you if you rescued an orphan or two from a burning building."

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, Sakura." Mumbled Nori, red-faced and trying to find her shirt.

"Uhm, nii-san?"

Nori turned to Sakura, and Sakura pointed to the closet directly above Nori's head. Nori turned and saw the shirt hanging right in front of her face.

She blushed. "Thanks, Sakura." She slid into the tank top quickly, then went over to her mirror and began to fuss with her hair.

"You're sure you're not nervous, nii-san?"

"Of course I'm sure, Sakura! Why won't you believe me?"

"...because you're trying to brush your hair with your body mist."

Nori, blushing, put her scented body mist down and picked up her hairbrush. "Ok. I'll admit it. I'm a little teeny bit nervous." She began to comb her hair down. "Only the slightest little bit, however."

She nodded. "Your hair looks fine, nii-san."

She smiled and then began to apply her makeup. A little bit of clear lipgloss and some foundation was all she applied, along with some light blue eyeshadow. She picked up her eyeliner, but then remembered when they had gone dancing, Kakashi had said that she looked better without it, and she put it down.

"No eyeliner, nii-san?"

"He says I look better without it." The surprised look she saw on Sakura's face made her realize that she shouldn't have said that particular bit of her reasoning. "I...mean...he probably would say---it'll irritate my contacts!"

"Real smooth, nii-san." Sakura teased. "You don't wear contacts."

"Damn it."

"He's right, though, nii-san. You do look better without it!"

Nori studied her reflection and found that Kakashi had been right. She did look better without eyeliner on. She smiled and blushed, mentally thankful that it looked ok when she blushed, not realizing that she was already thinking that she'd be doing a lot of it.

Sakura laughed. "Nii-san, your femininity is showing!"

"Where?!" Nori laughed.

It was a long-standing joke between them. Nori was seven years older than Sakura, and when Sakura was six, Nori had been thirteen. One day, Sakura made a smart choice, and Nori had told her that her maturity was showing. Sakura, not ready for big words like that, thought Nori was talking about underwear and had checked all over, asking, "Where?!" Their joke had expanded over the years to include any moderately large words.

"Anyhow, nii-san," Said Sakura, snapping Nori back to the present. "You look fine. Spritz on some body mist, and your outfit is complete." She smiled. Nori reached for a bottle, and Sakura sweatdropped. "That's the hairspray, nii-san."

"Oh. Right, right, I knew that." Nori sat it down. "I was just...um...moving it to...get to the body mist. Yeah." She picked up her body mist and spritzed herself with it, then stood nervously in front of the mirror. "Oh...oh no. I look horrible. I've got to change."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. Nori's natural blonde dimensions were shining through in her clean, soft brown hair. Her dark eyes flashed and shimmered invitingly, and her clothes showed off her body without making her seem cheap and easy. Yet, Nori seemed to think that she looked bad.

"Don't be ridiculous, nii-san, you look wonderful! I'm sure Kakashi-sensei will fall in love when he sees you!"

"You really think so?" Nori asked Sakura.

Sakura let the question hang so Nori had time to hear the note in her voice that said that she really wanted Sakura to be right before answering. "I know so."

Nori blushed. "Then...then I should stay in this?"

"Definitely. Besides, it's almost five. You don't have time."

With that, Nori's heart began to beat against her ribs. "Oh, god...Sakura, I don't know if I'm ready for this...even though it is just a friendly adventure, this is the first time I've gone out on a-" She stuttered. "D-d-date...since Iruka died. What if I mess it up?"

Sakura wasn't used to being treated like an adult by Nori, and although it was somewhat liberating, it was more scary than anything. She was growing up now, and Nori wasn't perfect. She was being forced to see that, although her sister was good at everything she did and perfectly pretty, she had an inferiority complex the size of the Hokage mountain. "N-n-nii-san..." stuttered Sakura, stunned by the revelation. "You won't. You're perfect."

Nori looked over at Sakura, studying her intently for so long that Sakura grew uncomfortable. Then, she smiled. "Thank you, Sakura." She answered, sounding like her old self. "I'm glad you think so. I do look pretty fly, huh?" She laughed as she joked.

Sakura, glad to have her big sister back, giggled. "Yeah. You'd better keep a close eye on my perverted old sensei, nii-san!"

Nori began to laugh. "Wow...even my little sister knows that he's a pervert. Ah, well. It's not exactly a secret when he runs around reading porno in front of you guys."

Sakura laughed. "I don't think he even reads it. I think he mostly carries it around to keep up his image. Notice how he's always on the same page?"

"...you know what page he's on?"

Sakura blushed. "Oh, no, no, no, I didn't mean---I've never looked at---!"

Nori burst out laughing and winked. "Gotcha."

Sakura frowned, but just then, the doorbell rang. Nori looked apprehensive for a second, and Sakura thought, 'Uh-oh...here it comes! If I were her, I'd be freaking out right now! Here comes the fear.'

But Nori just took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing, Sakura. Wish me luck!"

And she walked out of her room and down the stairs to greet her date for the evening.

SOOOOOOOOO. SORRY.

BD333, out.