Normal
by Wicked Child

She had never given much thought to the existence of aliens or extraterrestrial anything at any point in her life. In fact she hadn't ever given it a thought. But as she faced her adversary, she began to wonder if there truly was life on other planets that had decided to take residence on hers.

Because there was no way in hell--well maybe hell but surely not by God's hand--that a relatively normal human being could ever look like that or act like that. She understood eccentricities, Rock Lee was a good friend after all and through him she had spent time with Maito Gai and she had even spent a moment or to being talked to by Orochimaru, but this went beyond normal eccentricity. It actually hurt her head to try to comprehend who she was dealing with. She didn't like that at all.

A glance over to Naruto told her that he was having some of the same thoughts as she. Their combined adversary was, for lack of a better term, a freak among freaks. Blue eyes meet green and a silent understanding passed between them, but Naruto wanted to be certain it seemed.

"Sakura-chan, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

She nodded. "I think so."

"That blond guy sure reminds me of Ino."

Had one Haruno Sakura been eating or drinking, she surely would have choked to death from such a statement because that wasn't what she was thinking in the least. Saliva would have to do this time around. Although, now that she thought about it, he could have been Ino's older brother in some distant alien freak land thing. Boy, that would sure piss off the other girl if she ever found out. Sakura made a mental note to do just that.

"Sakura, are you okay?" Concern from her former sensei, typical in that he didn't bother to even look at her to see if she was in fact okay or what was wrong in the first place. Sometimes she did hate Kakashi but that was when she was having a pity party for one but right then was neither the time nor place. So she settled for annoyance, to whom she wasn't even sure herself.

"Yes. I just didn't expect Naruto to say that."

At this little revelation of sorts, Naruto took upon his usual "I am so confused but I'll let you think that I'm thinking" face and cocked his head to the side. "What were you thinking then?"

Irritated by her teammate's lack of mental synchronicity with her, Sakura decided to tell him, despite the fact that they were in Land of the Weird to save one unconscious Kazekage from death by super suction or being eaten by one large fugly bird. "I was thinking that, it's kinda scary that Uchiha Itachi is pretty damn normal compared to everyone else we've met in the Akatsuki!"

Realization dawned then upon the "Don't call me a kitsune" boy and he nodded in agreement. "Who would have thought that slaughtering your family could make you normal?"

Kakashi had to agree and did his best to hide the smirk that threatened to slip through because this was a serious situation dammit. Chiyo just wanted to slap her grandson around before she kicked his ass back to Sand.

Sasori just wanted to get the Kyuubi boy, kill the others, and show up Itachi once and for all. Deidara wanted to know who Ino was and why he of all people was considered not normal. Oh and to show up Itachi too.

Gaara just wanted to get back to his normal state and take a shower. And kill the Akatsuki. As he was in limbo at the moment all he could say to his supposed saviors was, "Um, need saving now. Almost dead. Who cares who's a freak here?" It then turned into, "I'm a freak. I've always been a freak. Besides what's normal anyway? It's so overrated you know."

It was a good thing, even in his own limbo mind, that no one heard him because the conversation deteriorated from there.

Had Itachi been available for comment, and to not be shown up by his "compatriots," he would have had to agree with Sakura's statement. Oh how he could lament for hours if not weeks on being the only truly normal member of the terrorist organization that even Orochimaru left because some of the others were just a little too weird for his tastes. Because to Itachi, he was a sore thumb that stuck out grievously when in the company of the others. But when he thought about it, and let's be truthful he thought about it a lot, it was better for him to be considered normal than as what the others were thought. It did wonders for his sex life.

"Pst. Sakura-chan!" was whispered with great urgency.

"What Naruto?" was hissed back with even greater urgency.

"If you think about it, what with the curse seal and transforming and all that, Itachi is even more normal than Sasuke." Naruto was silent momentarily before adding, "Guess he really is more special."

Express yourself, it can't be wrong