Reflection of God (Pein Story)

Chapter 9.

When Pein contacted her telepathically, it had been quite surprising.

After all, with the way his attitude had been towards Kyo so far, making the effect to contact her seemed a little unusual, and she began to prepare herself for the sudden change in personality that normally happened after a few moments of speaking to him. So imagine Kyo's surprise when he abruptly told her that he wanted to talk to her once again; about something important. That he’d finally come to a conclusion about her, and what her purpose would be while she was staying with the Akatsuki—before his dark, mysterious, enthralling voice faded from her mind and the conversation ended, leaving her standing there, shocked and deep in thought.

For a moment, Kyo didn’t know how to react. She’d only been speaking to him a minute ago—how had he managed to come up with a conclusion in such a short space of time? But then again, she had been here for a few days now, and in the same way she had often pondered her situation, Pein must have done the same; it was his organization, after all. Thus Kyo’s uncertainty faded instantly as she turned and started back towards the hideout, an almost childish streak of excitement building up inside of her now that she would finally know what would be happening, after all this time of living in the dark. A question that had haunted her during the day as well as the night…was now about to be answered, and Kyo allowed herself a small smirk as it appeared on the horizon and she headed for the door.

It was only as she rested her hand on the doorknob that Kyo suddenly paused, something else flashing up into her mind. True, Pein had come to a decision…but what was that decision going to be? Kyo now started to consider the options, and found herself strangely concerned about the way things would go from here. It hadn’t been very long since she’d been here, Kyo knew that, but in a way, she enjoyed the atmosphere in the hideout. Though the other members could get aggressive with each other and start to argue, they were all so different and intriguing; an eclectic bunch of ninjas she never would have met where she used to work. Although they all followed a certain set of rules, there was never full control, and it let them keep their own identities while working for the Akatsuki, treating them as equals and respecting them as ninjas. It wasn’t as if they’d treated her badly; with the likes of Itachi, she’d even say she’d become quite good friends. So what if Pein had made the decision to get rid of Kyo? There might even be a chance he’d changed his mind and was going to kill her anyway, cutting his losses while he could. The image of leaving the Akatsuki didn’t seem as alluring a prospect as it had before.

Then Kyo's grip abruptly tightened over the handle of the door, and she finally opened it and walked in, a determined look on her face. True, either of those options could be the real one, but she wouldn’t know until she got there. When she had first arrived, she had understood just where Pein was coming from when he suggested killing her because of her Rinnegan—and that still stood. But she wasn’t so willing to stand there and take it this time; she wanted to at least get her opinion across once. After seeing the likes of Hidan, speaking out didn’t appear such as a task as much as it might have done in the past, and Kyo continued on confidently, eventually arriving at Pein's door and knocking softly, entering once he gave a word of assent to do so.

He had his back to her, still not turning as she closed the door behind her and walked forward into the room. As Kyo came to a halt, standing firmly in her position, a second of silence passed between them as she waited for the right moment. But eventually she threw caution to the wind and opened her mouth to explain herself, when Pein got in before she could do so, beginning simply,

“I know you’ve spent the last few days here not knowing what would happen to you, Kyo, and I apologise for that. But I needed to come up with an answer as to what to do with you…and I have.”

Quietly, with narrowed eyes, Kyo questioned as to what that answer was in return, her heart beating slightly faster at the prospect—but even she hadn’t been expecting him to continue bluntly, glancing over his shoulder to make eye contact as he did so,

“You said your Rinnegan had only developed a couple of weeks ago, correct? And that you had been training it at the time when the subordinates picked you up—that your employers didn’t know about it. You’re powerful enough without it, Kyo, I’ll admit it, and it was that that made me decide to allow you into the Akatsuki.”

All thoughts of getting her opinion across fell from Kyo's mind as Pein's words finally occurred to her, and she couldn’t help but smirk at the fact that her worries had been completely destroyed and the hope that she had considered to be miniscule was now becoming reality. Immediately she spoke up, taking a step forward to emphasise her dedication,

“I won’t let you consider it a mistake, Leader-sama, if you do this—I promise. I’m willing to do what it takes.”

Though she then fell quiet as Pein cut in once more, fully facing the window again,

“Good; because there is a condition. Your Rinnegan adds a special factor to your abilities, and although I do not know how you came to possess it, I do not want it going to waste. It requires control in order to achieve master—and I do want you to achieve it. As such, even though you are now an Akatsuki member, you won’t be doing missions for the moment. You will be training with me.”

Kyo's heartbeat increased rapidly as Pein finished speaking, for a reason she wasn’t entirely sure of. All she knew was that she was pleased at this news—no, more than that; glad, excited, grateful, happy even. She had expected Pein to want to gouge out her eyes to get rid of the Rinnegan, not state he was going to train her with it. A part of her remained shell-shocked by this information, replying quieter than she might have been otherwise,

“Really? You’re actually going to train me?”

Bizarrely, however, those words halted Pein in his path as he thought them over, prompting him to pause as he stood there. Kyo noticed it, even as he turned a second later as if it had never happened, shaking it off as he answered firmly,

“Yes. You’re ready.”

Bowing in thanks, Kyo swiftly turned and left the room, trying desperately to push away the swelling of pride and almost joy that rose in her chest, focusing on Itachi as he approached and stated he’d been told to get her a cloak now that she was one of them. Nodding in agreement, she followed on after him and put it on the moment he handed it to her, unable to hide the smirk that flashed up onto her face as she did so. Itachi returned it in full, and after letting the rest of the group see her and congratulate her on finally joining the Akatsuki, Kyo had retired to her room, sitting down on her bed with an inward sigh. After everything that had happened—and happened so fast—she needed some time alone to get a grip on her thoughts. Never had she imagined that Pein would say she could join; let alone that he was willing to train her. Back where she had been living before, Kyo had done all she could to gain knowledge about the Rinnegan, reading up on it and teaching herself the techniques—but she had known it would never be as good as having a teacher. As having someone who really knew what they were doing. But once again it had fallen straight into her lap, starting to imagine what training sessions with Pein would be like. Nodding and smirking with this thought, Kyo knew she was definitely looking forward to this.

Especially the fact it was Pein to begin with.

But he was still running his mind over Kyo's earlier words; when she had asked if he would really be training her—because it had caught him out in a way he wouldn’t have thought possible. He would be showing her what to do and all that Kyo could do to enhance her abilities and gain full control, so yes, in that sense, he was training her. But the thought that it wouldn’t be the same kept popping up into his head and wouldn’t go away. Though in the conventional sense he was training her, Pein knew he would never see her as a student; she was his equal—and the thought that caught him out the most—

Or maybe even more than that.