Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Ino had been back in Konoha for fourteen years. Life had gotten better, he parents had initially disowned her, but Kai had softened their opinions and the family had mended the rifts. She'd made the decision to become a jounin and took a teaching position at the academy. Kai had been born a short while after arriving and was growing like a weed. He'd of course had his father's onyx eyes and jet black hair, he looked like her for the most part. She'd claimed a rape by an unknown assailant as how she'd gotten pregnant with Kai.

Things had really changed, Shikamaru had been married to TenTen, but they'd divorced. Shikamaru had tried many times, to win Ino back unsuccessfully. 'Not happening lazy ass,' she'd thought uncharitably in that memory. Shortly after Ino's return, Sasuke had came back for Sakura and the world had learned the truth about why Itachi had murdered his clan. Ino wasn't afraid so much about anyone finding out the truth, she just hadn't known how to go about saying she'd lied. She was still concerned for Konoha's reaction to her son. Granted, they now all knew that Itachi wasn't some insane murderer, but in fact he'd done only what any good shinobi should do when faced with a threat to his village. She was worried that it wouldn't stop the villagers from looking at her son as if waiting subconsciously for him to commit genocide however. So Ino kept her secret. Luckily after all this time, there still was no appearance a sharingan.

Kai was thirteen now, and his intelligence was remarkable. He was the top of his class and learned jutsus easily. Ino was very proud and knew Kai's father would've been as well. She often wished that Kai could have met Itachi, but it hadn't been fated to be. It was still hard to believe that someone she'd only known so briefly could have had such an impact on her life, but he had. She glanced over at the young man who was hurriedly eating his breakfast and smiled. He'd looked up at her and smiled back, immediately resuming eating.
"My squad is going on a D rank mission today, Mom. It's not going to be incredibly exciting."
"Be careful Kai."
He smiled and hugged her as he ran out the door, she sighed and got ready for work.

Kai met his team at the bridge, his sensei, Sasuke Uchiha, always insisted on meeting there because it's where he met his team at. Sasuke hadn't been his original sensei, that had been Kakashi, but the man had retired a few years ago and Sasuke had requested him to be one of his students. The thought did make him nervous as his mother had told him when he was eleven that Sasuke was actually his uncle and why it was a secret. Kai had kept his mouth shut, but worried what would happen if the truth came out. He thought it would be ok as the truth of Itachi had came out, but he'd made a promise to his mother, and you never do know how someone is going to react, even if circumstances had changed for Sasuke. He was glad no sharingan had manifested itself, truthfully he wasn't sure he wanted one.
"Hi Sasuke-sensei."
"Hi Kai."
He remembered the rumors of who his father could be, some rumors said Sai, some said Sasuke himself, and there were rumors that Itachi was his father. He always answered that he didn't know, it was helpful that he looked like his mother, except for his eyes, the shape of his eyes were more cat-like than his Mom's. She said he had Itachi's eyes, shape and color. His Mom had almost blown it at Sakura's small Christmas gathering the last year, she'd been in the kitchen cooking, everyone else was in the dining room and Naruto had started on the topic of who could've fathered Kai, Sai guessed Itachi. Ino, hearing the entire thing, had actually dropped and broke a plate. Sakura had ran in and Ino had laughed at her clumsiness, of course Sakura had known the truth and laughed it off with her. Two days later, Kai found himself with Sasuke's team instead of Neji's as previously planned. Kai knew Sasuke was suspicious of his parentage.
Sasuke's suspicions were still there, but had lessened over the last year, the older Kai got with no appearance of a sharingan, the less likely that he was Itachi's son, at least that's the logic that Kai assumed Sasuke was using. His two teammates finally arrived at the bridge, Kai was relieved. Sai came right after and Kai cocked a brow in question at this.
"First off, this is a D rank mission, but it's to escort someone, so it could be more difficult. It all depends on whether the people we've been contracted to escort were honest or not. In the event that it becomes more difficult, we'll have no choice but to immediately abort the mission ourselves and I'll teleport us back here while a squad of AMBU is dispatched or a more experienced team depending on the situation. Our Hokage, Naruto, doesn't particularly trust the people that we're escorting, so we'll have an AMBU with us today to assist if needed. Sai."
Kai smelled trouble, Konoha wouldn't send black ops if they didn't expect trouble, he suspected there would be a fight and Sasuke was trying to see if a sharingan would manifest itself. He unknowingly glared at his sensei, even though Sasuke was perfectly aware of the teenager's angry look. He stopped, noticing Sasuke glaring right back at him, realizing what he was doing, he gave a sheepish grin. "Sorry, was glaring into space, didn't realize it was pointed right at you, Sensei."
"Hn. Are we ready?"
"Hai!" Two eager students yelled, while Kai merely nodded. 'Should've went to work at Grandma's flower shop,' he thought, suddenly regretting ever becoming a shinobi.

The team met with their charges in Suna. The couple was very odd, Kai couldn't put his finger on it, but something about them just didn't sit right. He noticed Sasuke gave them an odd look as well, but their sensei said nothing and they'd started the mission, escorting them to the Land of Waves. It was relatively uneventful the first day. His other two teammates chatted away, while Kai chose to walk beside his Sensei and remain quiet, answering questions from the female of the odd couple when asked. He kept his answers short and sweet and carefully kept an eye on the female as she was the one who disturbed Kai the most. They camped out that night and Sai stayed with the charges and the rest of his team while Sasuke and Kai went to scout around the camp. "Sensei."
"Yes, Kai."
"I think something isn't quite right with those two, especially the man. What do you think?"
"Hn. They aren't who they say they are. They're masking chakra and trying to hide their true appearance with a genjutsu. Picked up on it in Suna, I'm observing them to see what their plans are before we apprehend them. How did you know something was wrong."
"Their behavior was off. A little too over the top, I guess."
"Are you sure that's all."
"Yes." Kai rolled his eyes, "still wondering if you're my uncle then?"
Sasuke smiled a little, "well you don't have to act like it would be a fate worse than death."
Kai stood there looking down, deep in thought about the subject at hand. He'd assumed Sasuke would hate him if he knew the truth. He smiled at his uncle, "If that turns out to be the case, I would hope that you wouldn't hold the sins of the father against the son."
It was Sasuke's turn to look shocked. "I wouldn't do that, Kai"
Kai glanced at Sasuke and jumped ahead to return to the camp. Sasuke smirked, hoping that kid was his family.

Kai fell asleep a short time later as it was Sai's turn to keep watch. He woke up too early, the moon was still out. He didn't know what had woke him up, but something was definitely wrong, he gripped his kunai and looked around the camp, it was just enough light. It was times like these, he cursed the fact that he didn't have a sharingan, he glanced around at Sasuke's sleeping bag to see it empty. The charges were still in their sleeping bags as were his two teammates. Sai was leaning against a tree looking around. It was too quiet, it seemed as if the entire forest had gone unnaturally silent. He put his hands together and whispered,"release."
His teammates were in their sleeping bags, but the two charges were gone. Sai was knocked out against the tree and Sasuke was missing. He immediately made his way to his sleeping teammates and woke them up, urging them to be quiet. He then checked on Sai and woke him up. They silently packed up camp and Kai started the search for Sasuke. He didn't have long to search.
Sasuke appeared at the edge of camp, his eyes narrowing seeing the clients missing. "what happened?"
Ionia, the female member of Team 27 said,"Sai got knocked out, Kai woke up first, and woke us up and the clients are missing."
Sasuke turned and in the blink of an eye grabbed Sai pulling him away from the tree just as a massive weapon cleaved it in half. Kai and the others jumped back away from the tree. They heard laughter but the dust was so thick and it was still so dark that only Sasuke could see their attackers. Kai clenched his kunai tighter, assuming a battle stance.
"Just give us the Yamanaka boy and we'll leave the rest of you alone."
Kai and Sasuke both narrowed their eyes. The dust cleared and the sun had barely risen enough to see the attackers clearly. It was their charges, only they'd dropped the genjutsu. They were wearing Akatsuki robes, although Sasuke recognized neither of them. 'Noobs,' he thought.
The woman was homely and the boy was considerably younger, and had blue skin. She looked at Kai as she spoke, "last time I saw you Kai, you were a bump on your Mama's belly. Did she ever tell you about your Daddy,? I bet she didn't."
Kai took a step toward the foolish woman, Sasuke stopped him, obviously enthralled with the subject. The woman continued as if the youth wasn't contemplating her demise. "She worked at my father's bar as a waitress, that's where she met him, and that's where I met his partner, who fathered my son, Hanyo." She gestured toward the blue youth beside her. "She left the bar with your daddy that night, he left her close to twenty-four hours later, pregnant. How is your mother by the way? Is the little whore still pining and mourning over her poor murderer?"
Kai hissed at her through clenched teeth,"Kindly don't attribute your own behavior to my mother."
Stevie's eyes narrowed. "Pity she had to take off to Konoha before you were born, we were going to take you from her at birth. No matter, your father was Akatsuki, you belong to the Akatsuki. You will be joining us."
"Say what you like, but I'm not going anywhere with you."
"Your father was an S Class and your mother whored herself to him. She knew his crimes. Your father was Itachi Uchiha. Too bad the man standing beside you killed him before he could learn of you. He's your uncle you know, sorry I had to ruin the family reunion."
Kai looked bored. "I don't have a sharingan, you're wasting your time."
"I don't think I am, Kai Itachi Yamanaka."
Kai maintained his indifferent expression, his eyes cold, "I would only find a way to kill you later. It's a lose lose proposition for you. You still end up dead or with nothing."
Stevie attacked, Sasuke intercepted her and knocked her out cold before she'd gotten close to her target. Hanyo screamed in rage and attacked Sasuke with his father's samehaida. He dodged him, but Ionia stepped forward, thinking to help her sensei, only to find herself being held hostage by Hanyo.
Kai focused all his chakra in a move he'd learned from the new Hokage himself and attacked Hanyo.
"Rasengan!"
Sasuke's eyes widened. Only those with wind properties could do that jutsu, if the boy was an Uchiha, he had water, fire, and apparently wind. He smirked and watched his student fight. Ionia had been released and had ran over to her other teammate. Hanyo and Kai were battling, Kai pulled out his katana, narrowing his eyes with his deadly intent. Hanyo was scared but held his samehaida higher. In a surprise move, the enemy threw a barrage of shuriken directly at Kai. Kai jumped, flipping to avoid the shuriken, he noticed they started moving at a lower rate of speed and he could easily dodge them. Sasuke jaw dropped seeing Kai's sharingan develop right in front of him. He was an uncle after all. He decided to step in to help his nephew, Hanyo fell in seconds.
Kai was panting heavily and hung his head. The truth was out, no stopping it now. He looked at his teammates, "chakra band and tie up those two would you. I need a minute." His sharingan deactivated, his eyes becoming coal black again. He turned silently and walked to the stream, he felt like he needed to be alone. He fell on his knees in front of the stream and cupped his hands in the water, drenching his face and neck. He just sat and stared, deep in thought, he'd unconsciously sat back and pulled his knees up to his chest. Sasuke watched him, thinking that in this moment, he looked like a scared little boy. Sasuke crouched next to him, but kept silent, waiting for Kai to speak. "I'd really hoped that I wouldn't develop one." He looked at Sasuke pointedly. "How do you keep villagers from looking at you different if they find out that your father killed his entire clan and your mother knew?"
"You knew? Why'd you lie?"
"I didn't want anyone to know. They'll call my Mom a slut. It won't matter to them that she knew why he'd done what he did when she was with him. Mom told me that it wasn't some great love, but she said that for one day she'd given him absolution, and in return, he gave her everything he had. She always said it wasn't a fair trade, that he'd given her more than she had him. I tend to think that maybe she gave him more than she ever knew. I guess if most of the people either hate or fear you, acceptance is probably worth it's weight in gold." Kai sighed, and stood up. "Sensei, I'd like to go home now. I'd really like to see my Mom. I'd appreciate it if you'd refrain from stopping by until I've had a chance to at least warn her."
Sasuke nodded and Kai walked away.

Ino hugged her son the second he walked in the door, her excitement died when her son looked up at her with somber eyes. "Uncle Sasuke will be here to talk to you soon, I'd imagine. My sharingan came out today."
Ino went pale. She wasn't worried about what Sasuke would say to her, frankly he could kiss her ass. She was worried about her son, how he would be treated, not only by Sasuke, but by everyone. Kai was correct in that Sasuke wouldn't be too long in showing up. She'd made some tea and composed herself before he arrived, bracing for the backlash as it were. Kai had went to meet his team for ramen at Ichirakus, which was a good thing in her opinion, especially if Sasuke got loud.
She heard the knock on the door within ten minutes of Kai leaving. She had a feeling Sasuke had been watching the house and hoping the boy would leave. She sighed and opened the door, stepping aside immediately inviting Sasuke in without words. He brushed past her silently and turned to look at her, she assumed waiting for an explanation. She smiled offering him some tea. He declined.
She sighed again, "so much for pleasantries. You have questions, ask them."
"Why did you keep Kai's father a secret?"
"To protect him and myself at first. Then when you came back, I was worried how you would react. As to why I've told no one to since, it's because I'm unsure of how people will receive the news and treat Kai. I don't want my or his father's actions to come back on him. He's growing into a good man, and I want him to be happy."
Sasuke looked down and then back at Ino. "You could have told me, Ino. I would've kept your secret for him as well. I don't want him hurt either."
"I had no way to know that, Sasuke. You hated your brother, understandably so, but still, I was worried you'd look at Kai and only see Itachi. I couldn't risk my son, and then later, I didn't want to risk his happiness on the stigma. It looks like it'll come to him anyway, but Kai is strong, and I think he'll be able to handle it now."
"On that we can at least agree."
"Sasuke, had I known we could trust you, I'd have told you. I'm sorry for not coming forward. I just need you to know, that I make no other apologies, and I'm not sorry for any of the events that led to my son being born. I wouldn't trade him for anything."
"What's Kai's full name?"
"Kai Itachi Yamanaka."
"So Stevie was telling the truth."
Ino's brows furrowed. Sasuke told her about all the events of the mission. Ino paled. Sasuke left right after informing her, Ino immediately locked up and headed to Ichiraku's. Kai wouldn't like it, but there was no way she was letting him out of her sight ever again after hearing that. Akatsuki wanting her son, 'over my dead body,' she thought evilly. Of course, she gave in after only a two hour argument. Kai would be going on the next mission after all.

Author's note:

The name Kai means forgiveness