[The Apprenticeship] Madara oneshot (for yumihoshigaki90)

This is a request from the one and only yumihoshigaki90.... I think this will be kinda fun to write.... *grins* Woo, I'm almost done with my oneshots! Two more to go! :D This might end up being a story I do because the plot has me intrigued... and I wrote it! XD

Name: Yuki Hoshigaki

Friends: Deidara

Looks: Tan with brown hair

Personality: Sarcastic, stubborn, overly-confident

Attempts: Kinky… Shall do XD

Three are the words that have changed Yuki's life. Three little words have made her life so difficult, yet so much better. No one has ever said them before in her memory, and no one has said them since. Only he has ever said then... and only he ever will. These three little words, seemingly insignificant, have changed her life forever:

"Bring her in."

***Two days earlier***

Yuki had been looking for work. Fresh from school with a degree, Yuki should have had no problem finding a job. She wondered why every place in the local area had turned her down after applying. Whatever she had applied for – temp positions, secretarial work, even as a fry-cook – every business had turned her down. Now, she was struggling to make ends meet.

She sighed as she received yet another application rejection and muttered, "At this point, I'd take any work."

***Meanwhile***

A pair of men sat outside an apartment, a photo in hand. The two watched the flat they were assigned to from a black sedan parked on the opposite side of the street. They remained quiet as they watched a girl checking her mail get a hopeless look on her face before going inside. Both men took a couple glances at the photo and waited several minutes. They finally looked at each other and nodded before getting out of the care and walking toward her door. The taller of the two, a blonde, knocked on the door.

***Change of view***

Yuki sat her bag on the table and sank straight into the only chair she owned, glad for how comfortable it was. It seemed to be giving her a hug, the only comfort she could receive at this point, since everything else in her life seemed to like to spit and laugh in her face before kicking her while she was down... and oh, how down she was. A knock on the door interrupted the party she was throwing herself in self-pity. She sighed and pulled open the door before asking carefully, "Can I help you?"

The blonde held out his hand. "My name is Deidara. This is my partner, Sasori. We have come to interview you for the job you applied for."

Yuki gave him a slightly confused look but nodded slightly and let them in, not about to pass up her only opportunity for work.

***Thirty minutes later***

Yuki thanked the two men as they walked back out the door, having told her they would be back the next day to take her to work since she had to sell her car. She nearly squealed in happiness, thinking maybe her life was going to get better.

***The next day, present time again***

"Bring her in."

Yuki's heart thumps in fear as she is jolted from her memories and pulled into a dark room. She wonders in hindsight if taking the job without many questions was the intelligent thing, but she also realizes that she had been about to lose her apartment. Either way, it had been a lose-lose situation, and at least this way she has a job... she hopes.

Of course, if I end up dead, I don't have to worry about a job OR an apartment anymore.... I suppose that would be okay.... Life couldn't get much worse for me.

She is jolted yet again from her thoughts as the blonde – Deidara, if she recalls his name correctly – pushes her into a chair, hand on her shoulder. He leaves it there, as if it were a reminder for her to remain still. Yuki doesn't dare to speak yet, no longer certain these men are in an "honorable line of work," as Deidara had so kindly put it.... Sasori hadn't really said anything the entire time the men were there.

Yuki is jerked from her thoughts as she suddenly senses a third man's presence in the room, a powerful aura that emanates authority and demands respect. She is smart enough to remain quiet as she watches him sit behind the desk in front of her. The man's eyes meet hers, leaving her intrigued. An eerie crimson color invades the dark depths of his eyes, leaving her utterly baffled and yet still somehow entirely under his control with just one glance.

"... Hello, Yuki." The voice is cold and authoritative, though also a tenor seeming to be somehow covered in velvet. The depth sends instant shudders down her spine, a delicious fear erupting in her stomach. She doesn't answer, too fascinated by his eyes which seem to see straight through to her core, as if he has the power to dissect her every whim and thought, leaving her powerless to hide from him. She sees a smirk slide across his previously expressionless face.

"... A quiet obedient one.... I pick them well." His eyes don't stray from hers. "Deidara, Sasori, you may go."

The blonde seems utterly shocked by this suggestive command; even Sasori's expressionless face and eyes seem to register a stirring hint of surprise. The man says nothing more, though his look plainly tells them not to argue or they will find they regret it. A tense moment passes through the room. Yuki stays perfectly quiet, still intrigued by the man's eyes, having decided that they are definitely natural and not contacts, though she can't help but admit that they are a rather unnatural color. The two men standing on either side of her slowly leave and shut the door behind them. The man behind the desk stares at her for several minutes before speaking quietly.

Yuki comes back to her senses as he speaks, realizing that she is actually here for a job interview... of sorts. Remembering his positive remark about her lack of speech, she forces herself to swallow all the questions itching to escape her mouth, eyes still trained on his. Fear continues to swell and fall in her chest and stomach, almost seduced by this man simply by his eyes and voice.

"My name is Uchiha Madara... and you are going to be my next apprentice."