Slight AU. Just a plot bunny. It's not really KakaYama, but it's close.
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While ambling through the Konoha Grocery Store, Yamato felt a little awkward. He had never gone to the grocery store with the ex ANBU Captain before and to search for such an item no less. He had never needed to purchase this particular product in his life.
People snickered while glancing at the two highly embarrassed shinobi. Well... one of them was defiantly embarrassed the other was calm as could be. The Copy-ninja was dressed in his customary Jounin uniform, his hair disheveled as usual; he was acting as if this was an average, everyday occurrence even though he had never needed the thing either. The brunet just wanted to get in and get out, but no, that was not possible. They had to be stopped by several acquaintances and teasingly asked if they were "Okay or not".
It. Was. Annoying.
Yamato wasn't even responsible for this. He was perfectly innocent. It was that mischievous, white-haired ninja's fault that they were in this predicament.
Kakashi had taken the very last edition of Icha Icha War, and Naruto, nineteen now, wasn't very thrilled. The unpredictable shinobi had gotten back at them, and let's just say that he had proven the credibility of his nickname once again.
Kakashi's teachings about sneaking had not been wasted on the neon-haired shinobi. What you do in the past can really come back to bite you the ass later.
The prank had been humiliating enough, but, now, they had to clean up the hyperactive shinobi's mess, again. Why Yamato had to go too was unknown to the brunet, but the copy-cat knew. Moral support. Even though he acted causal, Kakashi was still embarrassed like every other sane human would be.
Another acquaintance bumped into-marched straight towards them really- them and pointed out exactly how ridiculous they looked. Seriously, how many people that they knew were in this freaking store?! Left and right, they were being verbally harassed by people they hadn't seen in months. People that they had forgotten the names of.
Maybe, the universe hated them a little bit today.
In all honesty, the bookstore would restock soon. Kakashi could've gotten the book at a later date, but, since this was Jiraya's last book ever, he just had to have it first. His own dignity be damned. Yamato's too
No book, published posthumously or not, was worth this mess.
The only reason why the brunet was dragged into this was because he and Kakashi had fallen asleep at the training grounds. This could count as punishment for being so careless.
Looking at random things and making inaudible sounds of interest, Yamato tried but failed at being causal. He had been undercover before and Had done exceptionally well. Why was today the only day of his LIFE that he couldn't be the least bit calm and inconspicuous? It was incredibly rare that he was recognised by anyone at the grocery store, let alone those same people go up and chat with him, but today the record was going up in leaps and bounds.
Well, it WAS pretty hard to be inconspicuous when two full-grown men were in the feminine hygiene aisle and scrutinising each item with an unrivalled urgency.
While Kakashi was looking for the item that they required...without much luck, one might add, someone that didn't fully intend to humiliate them called out.
"Oi, Kaka-sensei! What are you and Yamato-taicho doing in the women's aisle?" An inquisitive voice met their ears... Or was it mocking?
Oh great. This one actually knew them personally. It was nice though, to see Sakura in normal clothes. It was obvious that she was in a decent mood as any, but they still had to be careful when talking to her. Her infamous temper had only grown more violent with the years. Wait, she knew more about the thing that they needed more than they did.
Maybe, she would help them with their little problem.
"Sakura-chan! Would you help us out?" Asked the masked half of the pair. Well, shouted would be more accurate. Even though she had already started ambling towards them, she was still yelling distance away.
Kakashi was finally on the same page. Although, he was a little bit too quick-to-the-punch. It was important to seem as casual as possible in this dire both wanted to get cleaned up as much as a... baby wanted to cry.
"Sure." She searched for approximately two second and found the correct product. Kakashi had been looking for it for the last ten minutes without progress and was internally peeved when she found it so effortlessly. Handing them the bottle,"This one usually does the trick." She supplied helpfully. She had been a real godsend today.
"Thank you, Sakura-chan. You're a life-saver!" They said in unison. She really didn't know how much they truly meant that.
Now, they could finally go check out and LEAVE.
Yamato did his best to hide the item behind his back without making it look like he was stealing from the store or hiding something behind his back. another thing that he was hiding his pure joy at being almost done with this whole ordeal.
The excursion to the cashiers' station, the front of the store, was unbearable and long, or, maybe, it just felt that way. Checking his watch, the younger shinobi confirmed that it had taken them exactly one minute and twenty-eight seconds to get to their current destination. The had rushed as casually as they could manage at which they failed... miserably.
The cashier didn't know them, but still had a smug look all the same. He appeared as if he was ready to burst out laughing at their little... predicament.
"One bottle of nail-polish remover costs three dollars and eighty-seven cents."