Reflection of God (Pein Story)

Chapter 3.

Kyo couldn’t look away. His eyes were so intense, constantly apathetic and hiding what lay within; but she could see there was something behind it all—something he hid from everyone around him. There was a lot more to Pein than most people considered, and Kyo felt an immediate connection. She had never met anyone like him in her life, and all the rumours and stories Kyo had heard about him she could instantly believe him to have done; he had that kind of power. His piercings were unusual, true; but somehow they merely accentuated his features and gave him a quality that separated him from the likes of most men—they made him special. His voice; his eyes, his piercings all made her curious, and she couldn’t help but want to know more, even in the current situation.

Something that was only reflected in Pein.

He had been interested in Kyo from the beginning, even without knowing she had the Rinnegan, but now his curiosity had been taken to a whole new level. He had never heard of anyone else but him possessing the Rinnegan. It was a kekkai genkai, after all, so she had to have gotten it from somewhere. But how? She clearly hadn’t flaunted it in order for the subordinates to have found out; they had been the ones to find her. Pein could sense she was powerful, yet she didn’t try and show off, almost appearing shy as he looked at her now. But it wasn’t a true shyness; she held her head up and met his gaze full on, even if she had been reluctant to look him in the eye at first. Kyo might have been uncertain in what was going on, but she wasn’t one to back down. Where had she come from? Who was she? All these questions began to surface in Pein's mind until he forced himself to ask bluntly,

“How do you possess the Rinnegan? What did you do to get it?”

“I don’t know. It—it’s hard to explain, sir.” Kyo attempted to respond, trying to come up with the words that would explain the situation but not everything about her; or would at least sound respectful. But try as she might, nothing seemed to come to mind, and Pein persisted in his interrogation, questioning again and again about several different things. Now that Kyo had entered and he had met her, he couldn’t just let her go—not now he knew she had the Rinnegan. He never took his eyes off of her; stepping forward as he spoke, determined to get the information out of her.

It was only after a few minutes that Pein paused and began to consider the idea that Kyo wasn’t lying; that she was actually telling the truth. She’d been nothing but respectful while she had been here, and had done nothing to fight back. He had developed the Rinnegan naturally through his bloodline, and therefore understood it well. But Kyo seemed…uncomfortable with it; as if she wasn’t quite used to having it there. She was being honest—she had to be—and so Pein fell silent, thinking over the situation, wondering what exactly he was going to do now. He knew he wasn’t about to let her walk out of the hideout as if nothing had happened; she knew of the hideout, the members of the Akatsuki and who he was. He didn’t know who she worked for; there was no telling what she might do when she left—and not to mention she was powerful. If she got out…maybe it would be better if he just killed her now. There were too many threats to the Akatsuki to add another one to the pile.

“May I say something, sir?”                       

Flicking his gaze up to Kyo's, Pein immediately paused at her words; at her asking for his permission to speak. It cut straight through his contemplation of killing her, abruptly intrigued at what she might have to say, and nodding, he gestured for Kyo to continue, prompting her to go on,

“I didn’t purposefully choose to own the Rinnegan; I swear. And I wasn’t trying to—and never would try—to disrespect you by using it in the wrong way, sir. I wish I could get rid of it; and I know you have every right to kill me—I’m not about to contest that. I know there is nothing I can say that will change that fact.”

But with that, Pein had no idea how to respond. Uncertainty seemed to overwhelm him with every action she took or every word she spoke. At first glance Kyo appeared as timid and wary of those around her; keeping her head bowed and away from him and constantly calling him ‘sir’. But the closer he looked the more Pein saw it wasn’t like that. Her expression was apathetic, with no emotions clouding her eyes or face. She was firm and certain in the way she acted, confident in what she could do but in no way arrogant. She knew things and understood things that a lot of people didn’t—Pein could see it in her eyes. He felt a strange connection forming as he got caught in Kyo's gaze, and he couldn’t figure out what to do. He couldn’t figure out what to think of her in the first place. The subordinates had said she was powerful even without the Rinnegan, and Pein didn’t doubt that, even though her beauty offset that. She had been nothing but obedient and respectful towards him, and suddenly Pein felt something he hadn’t felt in a long time:

Empathy.

Something about Kyo drew him in like a moth to a flame, and he felt as if he could understand what she was going through. Strange thoughts began to form in the back of his mind as Pein continued to analyse her—but forcing himself to look away for a moment, he made himself concentrate on the idea that it would be a waste to kill her with the power she held. The rest of his thoughts he pushed away, homing in on that one thought, and combining that with the information she now knew about the Akatsuki, and Pein had made his decision; glancing up at her to state simply,

“You’re staying here.”

Instantly returning her eyes to his, Kyo stared at Pein in shock and confusion, having not been expecting that in the slightest. She had meant what she had said; and having figured out that it was because of her Rinnegan that she had been brought here, Kyo had accepted her fate. The Rinnegan was a kekkai genkai that was extremely rare in the world, and considering she was a mere stranger who had turned up out of nowhere and was working for another group of ninjas, Kyo hadn’t found the idea of Pein wanting to kill her strange—he had every reason to. He couldn’t risk her power being used against him, and there was the question as to how it had come about, too. So Kyo hadn’t been about to protest to her death, knowing that it was inevitable. To have Pein abruptly turn round and say that she was to be staying there with the Akatsuki and in the hideout…she didn’t know how to respond. Nothing was going how she had planned it, everything having been turned on its head in a merely a few minutes—then remembering her situation, Kyo began to speak up, protesting quietly,

“But I work—”

“No. You will stay here from now on, regardless of who you might have been working for before this; I don’t care. You accepted the fact that I might have been going to kill you—so accept this,” Pein merely shot back, to which Kyo responded with a simple nod in return, strangely unaffected about this new information. Sadness at how things had changed never crossed her mind, and Kyo found herself facing this new challenge head on.

She had heard of the Akatsuki, after all, with what all the members had done in their lifetimes and the consequences of their actions. She admired them as a group and as individuals; in a way, this experience almost excited her. Though a shadow of concern passed through her thoughts as to how the others would react—whether in the Akatsuki or in her old group—it soon dissipated, and Kyo could concentrate on nothing but what would be happening next. How little time it had been since she had been training with the Rinnegan, wondering what changes could be made to her life to give her what she wanted and felt she deserved.

Who would have known it would be handed to her on a platter?