Club Akatsuki

Chapter 3

The Masks They Wear

Several members had already left the club for the night, leaving the ones that lived there. Sasori, Deidara, and Zetsu lived in the apartments above the club. They sat in silence as they smoked. Before long, Zetsu put out his cigarette and went upstairs to call it a night.

"Well," Deidara started as he smothered his cigarette in the ashtray, "I'm gonna call it a night, see you tomorrow, my man," Deidara said and headed upstairs.

"Yeah, later," Sasori nodded. Only a couple lights were still on in the club, so it was practically dark. Only a dull illumination softly blanketed the bar where he sat. Sometimes it was nice to sit alone in the dark, alone with whatever thoughts that come to mind, and a barely touched cigarette resting between his fingers above an ashtray.

His thoughts had a very narrow range that night. The unique guns that came to him, and the mysterious women that also came to him. Normally he would think about art, music, food, philosophy, or whatever he read in the paper that day. However, such thoughts didn't come to him at all tonight and it made him irritable that such a brief encounter with a single woman and a couple immature comments from his friends could plague his mind.

Sasori wasn't sure if his friends knew that he wasn't really interested in having romantic relations. Not that he ever had any before, so he can't say there's a particular reason for his disinterest. Granted, this was the first time in his life where he had the opportunity to experience romance if he chose to. His life before the Akatsuki was rather, confined, to say the least. He preferred not to think about it.

Sasori took one last drag from his cigarette before putting it out in the ashtray and grabbing his fedora. Out of no particular concern, he checked all the doors to make sure they were locked and that the security barricade was secure. Shutting off the last lights, he headed upstairs. His apartment was fairly high up, being above Deidara's, but below Zetsu's. Pain lived in the top apartment. Despite his long smoking history, he was able to climb all the stairs with ease, even when he was tried after his long day.

After dressing for bed, Sasori laid there with his hands behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. He still wasn't used to not having total darkness to sleep in at night. There were city lights outside and in a few hours the sun would be rising and he knew that he should at least get some sleep before then.

He was bordering sleep as his mind drifted. It didn't surprise him when he thought of that woman from earlier again. He'd been thinking about her all night. It made him consider that maybe Deidara was right, maybe he was attracted to her. Not like he knew what being attracted to someone felt like, so he supposed it was possible and it was bound to happen eventually, even to him. He decided he didn't like the feeling. It pledged his mind too much. He had already thought of this woman more than he ever thought of the only woman he had taken to his bed. Even that had been a one night experience, not even that really, and he didn't think about it as much as the woman in the red dress. Sure, that other time he had paid her for a certain service she had been offering, like several women in this wretched town find themselves doing at some point, and the experience had been a disappointment so he never sought her out again. Back then he thought she was beautiful, or at least what he thought should be considered attractive, even though he didn't really have much of his own opinion in the matter. Still, he tried it, and that was the end of that story.

That woman in the red dress though, she made him forget about the entire world as if it had just melted away from his consciousness when they touched slightly and locked eyes. He remembered how her eyes were strikingly blue behind her glasses and she smelled like sugar, almost like the sweet syrup that is commonly found on pancakes.

Mmm, pancakes. That sounded appetizing.

He decided that he was going to go to the diner that was up the street and over a few blocks. It had been some time since he had last gone out for breakfast, since he didn't eat breakfast often and he normally didn't have the extra money to eat out, but he'd make an exception this time.

Within seconds, his thoughts landed back on the woman in the red dress. What was he supposed to do, if anything, if he was attracted to her? Should be pursue her or just ignore the sensations he felt around her and go on business as usual until she's gone forever? He wanted advice, but he didn't know who he could ask. His friends were rather stupid, especially in the woman department. The only ones he knew had experience in this sort of thing were Pain and Hidan. Sasori wouldn't dare ask Pain, his boss, for woman advice. He considered asking Hidan, but he could already hear Hidan's would-be response and it wasn't gentlemanly at all, considering Hidan's tendency to womanize. Sasori supposed he was on his own in this matter, that is, if he bothered to consider it further. There was no guarantee that he would see her again, like if she found a gun elsewhere, so worrying about it would have been for nothing.

Morning came too soon for the red-head. He felt like he hadn't slept at all, but the banging at his door wouldn't let him sleep anyway. Irritably, Sasori threw the sheets off of him and got up to answer the door.

"What?" he grumbled as he glared as Deidara.

"Don't gripe at me, my man," Deidara sighed. "But now you're up so I'm off, gotta go get some supplies, you know," he said and began to leave.

Sasori wordlessly closed his door and stepped back into his apartment. After washing and dressing, he sat on the windowsill and lit a cigarette while blowing the smoke out the window. He didn't want his apartment to smell like smoke, so if he wasn't at the bar or in the alley, he would smoke out the window. He simply sat there as he watched as people headed to work and school in the morning. It didn't take long before he saw Deidara join the pedestrians and disappear around the corner.

He wondered if he ever saw the woman in the red dress in a crowd or walking by from this spot. If they had ever been in the same place at the same time, but never met. He knew he was thinking nonsense now. Things like that only happen in stories and fantasies, not real life, and not in a life like his where every trip outside was at his own risk. He was always too busy scanning the crowds for faces from his past out to get him to be concerned with anyone else that might hold his interest if given the chance.

Walking back through his apartment, he smothered his cigarette in the ashtray on the table before grabbing his coat and hat. He patted his pockets to make sure he had his wallet and keys before leaving. Before stepping out of the alley, he put on his sunglasses and pulled up his collar to hide his face. He wasn't going to bother with a more complex disguise this early in the morning. Most of the gangsters and snipers out there to get him were either asleep or hungover at this time. It made for a small window of low-risk opportunity to leave the club.

As he made his way towards his destination, a diner that was about a twelve minute walk away, he passed a group of young school children hurrying to school. He didn't give them a second glace, but did feel a bit of envy as a happy memory of his parents seeing him off to school when he was little flashed through his head. It was a single memory, because there were no more memories of his parents after that. To be young, free, and careless was a beautiful thing that he believed should last forever like true art, but alas it was a fleeting thing in life.

In no time he was able to see the diner up the street and as he got closer, so did a familiar face from the other direction.

"Itachi," Sasori greeted by the door.

Itachi paused and scanned what he could of Sasori's face, confirming it was him. "Same idea huh?" he asked casually.

"Seems so," Sasori nodded.

They stood there silently before they wordlessly went inside together. The color scheme of the diner was just awful. Faded light pink table tops and counters with faded green and grayish flooring. Everything was faded and old, but still clean and organized. The decorations on the walls were the only interesting thing to look at, being album covers, both recent and old.

The two of them shared a table near the corner and then they waited until a waitress would come to take their orders. Sasori noticed Itachi had already taken out a cigarette and was lighting it.

"Thought you were cutting back?" Sasori commented.

"I am," Itachi grunted. "Haven't had a smoke since before my shift last night," he added. "So cut me some slack." As a personal rule, Itachi didn't smoke much at home, and never smoked around Sasuke. He wouldn't call himself a heavy smoker because of that rule, but he still smoked more than he'd like since he started having other health problems where smoking wasn't really helping his case.

"Got a lot on your mind?" Sasori asked.

"Yes," Itachi said as he watched Sasori light his own cigarette.

"Me too, doesn't feel like I slept at all this morning," he commented nonchalantly. "Been a while since I last came here, you come here often?"

"Haven't been here for a couple years actually," Itachi said and looked around. "Still looks exactly the same though."

"Where's all the waitresses?" Sasori realized they hadn't seen uniforms since they stepped in. He didn't like waiting.

"Probably in the back at the same time," Itachi responded as he looked around also. There were only a handful of other people in the diner. The smell of fried eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, waffles, and pancakes had his appetite in full gear so he'd like to get his order in as soon as possible.

Sasori grabbed an ashtray from a nearby unoccupied table and put it on their table so they could flick off some of the excess ash. Then he looked at the menu that was kept on a little stand behind the napkins. His cigarette rested between his fingers as he read over the familiar items. There were a handful of different find of pancakes, including buttermilk, blueberry, and chocolate chip, but he already knew what kind he was going to get.

"Why would a woman smell like syrup?" Sasori asked abruptly.

"Is that some kind of riddle?" Itachi wondered. It was a strange question, but it wasn't the anywhere near the strangest things he's heard.

"No, just wondering."

Itachi took a long drag from his cigarette and exhaled before answering. "Maybe she's got kids," he said.

Sasori's heart sank as he realized that was a possibility. "Do you know if there is a soap or something that is syrup scented?"

"With some of the kinky stuff out there, probably, but you'd have to ask Hidan about that one," Itachi shrugged, making Sasori sigh in disappointment.

Meanwhile, there was a waitress hiding in the kitchen while peeking out the small window into the diner. "What's up?" Another waitress asked from behind her.

They were wearing ridiculous matching uniforms. The whole look was a weird Lolita-waitress look with the most dreadful color combination. Their long hair had to be up in pigtails and tied with bows. They each wore a short button down dress of an almost-pastel orange with bright yellow stripes along the edges of the short sleeves and bottom of the skirt. There were also neon yellow reflective stripes over the shoulders and down the sleeves. The sleeves and skirts had white ruffles along the edges, and the aprons over the skirts were also white, but were tied around the waist in a large, dramatic bow. Along with orange high-heels, they had to wear white over-the-knee socks with ruffles.

The first waitress had sunny blonde hair, and she turned around to look at the one that spoke, a brunette woman who was waiting to get through the door with a couple breakfast plates. "The guy I was working last night is here of all places," the blonde said.

"I see, I can take care of that table then," the brunette waitress said. "But first I have to take these in," she said and the blonde waitress quickly got out of the way. "But this isn't an excuse for you to not work," she reminded and the blonde nodded.

When the plates were served, she approached the other table of two men that hadn't been served yet. She could tell how long they had been waiting from the length of their cigarettes, assuming they were lit when they came in. There was no mistake that one of the men was the one that her companion was hanging around the night before. He was dressed fairly formally again, but kept his fedora on. She couldn't see the other man very well. He was facing the other direction and was wearing his fedora, sunglasses, and a high popped up collar on his coat.

"Welcome to Cid's Diner, what can I get for you?" she greeted with an overly perky voice.

"Can I get today's special?" the man with dark hair spoke first, barely glancing at her.

"Of course," she responded too happily as she tilted her head to the side cutely. Even though the men weren't looking at her, the boss might get mad if she didn't act her part. The boss thought over the top was best. "How would you like your eggs today?" she asked.

"Over easy," he said simply and then placed his cigarette between his lips casually.

"Coming right up! About how about you, sir?" she asked the other man.

"I would like pancakes," he answered without looking up.

"Alright, would you like to have Cid's Everyday Special? That includes a stack of our home-style pancakes with butter and syrup, as well as a strip of bacon and apple slices on the side," she said with a perfectly rehearsed proficiency, however the perkiness of her voice began to slip away by the end, hinting to its falseness.

"Sure," he said as he glanced at her briefly.

"And would either of you like a beverage?"

"Coffee," they both said at the same time.

"Alright, your orders will be out shortly," she said and stepped away with an unusual silence despite her heeled shoes. Both men noted this and watched her walk away for a second.

"Interesting," Itachi said with this cigarette still between his lips. "Must work elsewhere too," he noted.

"You think so?" Sasori said.

"Well, besides striping or prostitution, women have a hard time getting decent work in this town," he explained. "Might be a pickpocket, a spy for a gang, or something else entirely with that kind of silence."

"I see you've done your research about the circumstances of this town," Sasori noted.

"I've been around here long enough to have picked up a few things," he said.

The waitress returned just as silently with their coffee, also setting down creamer if they chose to use it. "Enjoy, the rest will be out soon," she said and left.

This time Sasori actually looked at her for a full second before taking one of the mugs to bring it closer. Then he paused. "Wait a second…" he muttered and looked for the waitress again, but she must have gone into the kitchen. "That was odd."

"What?" Itachi said as he added a little cream to his coffee.

"…Nothing," Sasori lifted his hat slightly to rub his forehead. Then he took one last long drag from his cigarette before crushing it against the ashtray. "Just thought that waitress looked familiar."

Itachi shrugged. "Maybe she worked here the last time you were here," he suggested and then finished off his cigarette before sipping his coffee. It was still pretty hot so he set it back down and noticed Sasori had a thoughtful look.

"Could be…"

Itachi fidgeted in his seat repeatedly as they waited. He'd pick up his coffee, set it down, and then pick it back up again to finally take a drink.

"Something wrong?" Sasori questioned as he looked at his own coffee. It tasted normal to him.

"I feel like I'm being watched, however not maliciously," he explained.

"…What?"

"Well there's a difference when someone is just looking at you and watching you, you know?"

Sasori nodded seriously. "Yeah, so what?

"Never mind, I could just be paranoid, I didn't sleep much this morning," he explained.

"Alright, as long as you're sure it's nothing to be worried about," Sasori said as he peaked over his shoulder and over his sunglasses. He looked back just in time because the waitress was returning with their breakfast. Sasori took the opportunity to get a better look at her, even stare.

She had a peppy smile despite a cold aura as she presented them with their plates and topped off their coffee.

"Will that be everything?" she asked and they each nodded. "Would you like separate checks?" she asked and they nodded again so she left their checks on the table. "Enjoy, and let me know if there is anything else I can do for you," she finished before she moved to another table to offer more coffee.

Itachi started on his breakfast and looked at Sasori, who was still staring at the waitress. "See something you like?"

"What?" Sasori said as he looked back.

"You were staring at the waitress pretty intensely, something must be afoot."

"Not really, just trying to figure out where I've met her before or who she reminds me of. Her name tag said Risa, but I've never met someone by that name before," he lied while wondering if the waitress was really the woman in the red dress from the night before. She looked so different, but similar. He wasn't about to approach her in the diner. It was better if he remained silent, especially since he was out in public while trying to keep a low profile.

"Might think of it later, since she hasn't said anything to you, you might not know her at all," Itachi suggested.

"That is possible," Sasori sighed and they both returned to their breakfast silently.

After a few minutes, Sasori noticed Itachi staring at another waitress that was standing behind the counter while pouring coffee for an old man and listening to what he had to say with a smile. Itachi seemed pretty fixated and Sasori wondered if that was how he looked himself when trying to figure out where he saw the waitress that served them was from.

"You know her?" Sasori asked, causing Itachi to jump so slightly that Sasori barely noticed it.

"I don't think so," Itachi said slowly. "This diner must purposefully hire girls with common looks or something of the sort."

Sasori chuckled slightly. "That would be interesting."

Itachi noticed that Sasori just finished off his coffee. "You heading back soon?" he asked when Sasori pulled out his wallet.

"Yeah, I can only be out in public for so long," he nodded and left some money on the table. "How about you?"

Itachi looked into his coffee cup before answering, "I'm going to have another cup of coffee before heading out."

Sasori pushed up his sunglasses. "See you tonight then," he tipped his hat and made his way out of the diner.

Itachi nodded in kind and watched as Sasori left. Itachi paid for his own breakfast and noticed that Sasori left behind a pretty large tip without getting any change back. Shrugging, he threw down some money before finishing off his coffee. Looking back at the counter where only a couple of other people sat, he debated what he wanted to do.

Finally, he took his cup with him and sat at the counter. His keen eyes noticed how the waitress hesitated and looked around before approaching him. There was no other waitress in sight so she put on a smile and reached for the coffee pot to bring to him.

"Would you like more coffee, Sir?" she asked politely.

"Yes," Itachi nodded. "Please." As she poured, he got a good look at her nametag. "So… Yukiko," he started and she looked him. "How long have you been working here?" he asked causally.

After filling the mug, she lifted the coffee pot away and looked at him. "Oh I've been here for a couple years now, haven't seen you around though, do you come here often?"

Itachi shook his head. "Been a while since I was last here."

"Is this your day off? Most guys are at work by now," she asked casually.

"I work at night," he said simply and looked at his coffee. It needed sugar or cream.

"Yeah? What do you do if you don't mind me asking?"

Itachi was getting a little tired of this game she was playing. He was sure it was her now, and she has to remember him. "I work in a club… but you should know that, right? You were there last night," he said seriously and noticed her hold her breath. "Don't deny it, you and I made a bet."

After a short silence, she let out her breath in a short sigh. "Alright, you caught me, did you follow me? Are you a stalker?"

Itachi chuckled. "Not at all, I was just surprised to see you so soon, I wasn't expecting to see you again until tonight," he said. "I must say that I find you intriguing, why do you work here? Surely you don't need the money," he assumed. The dress she was wearing the night before was obviously well made and from a high class retailer, possibly custom made, so not the kind of thing that a simple waitress could afford so easily.

"If you want to know that, you'll just have to get to know me by continuing our game," she winked.

Itachi smirked. "I can live with that," he said. "But I would like to know, what's your shift like here? You were at the club late last night, aren't you tired?"

"You sure ask a lot of questions," she sighed. "But I'll humor you on that one. I work from five in the morning to one in the afternoon on a normal day, so yes, I slept shortly last night and came straight to work," she explained.

"You seem like a dedicated woman," he commented.

She smiled kind of mischievously. "You think so?" she said cutely. "Now if you excuse me, I have to get back to work," she said.

She picked up some dishes from the counter and took them into the kitchen. There she found 'Risa', the brunette waitress.

"Raven!" she cried and ran towards her.

"What's wrong?" the brunette asked as she closed up a freezer.

"I had to talk to him…" she pouted.

"What? Why?" Raven asked. "Suki, what did you do?"

"Nothing! I was working the counter when his friend left and he came over and started talking to me," Suki explained.

"Well as long as he doesn't start to stalk you," Raven sighed. "I don't want to have to shoot him like with that guy that snuck into our apartment."

Suki sweated a little at the memory, "I'm still very sorry about that by the way…"

"Nearly gave me a heart attack…" Raven sighed. "At least we don't have to worry about that guy anymore, but from that experience, remember to always play it cool and remain calm no matter what," she reminded.

"Right!" Suki saluted.

"Now I just can't wait until the shift is over, I'm exhausted," Raven complained.

"Me too," Suki sighed. "These heels are killing my feet, whoever thought that waitresses should wear heels is stupid…"

"We must grin and bear it… can't wait until I can leave this town and live someplace quiet."

"I just want to follow my dreams, but as they say, you need money to make money," Suki said. "Or enough to live and get the stuff I need to get my dreams started would be nice too."

"Our times will come soon enough," Raven said. "We should get back to work," she added.

What the waitresses didn't know was that there were multiple pairs of eyes watching the diner after that. Some eyes were curious, others were cold and calculating. They were about to meet more than their fair share of danger soon.

Paths have crossed. Everyone would be on their own to make the choices they were about to face. All they had was their own interests in mind. One can plan and know what they are going to do in a situation, but they will never know what will actually happen until they have to confront it for real.

Author's Note:

Pancakes.

Clarification, since my beta reader asked this too. Yes, Sasori slept with a prostitute once and has never been in a relationship. The experience was disappointing because he wasn't allowed to do anything, she probably just did him, took the money, and left. This story is close to his canon age of about 30, but looks younger, so he was probably 19-21 when he paid for it (and joined the Akatsuki). It's been a long time for him.