The Barn

"People who have monsters recognize each other. They know each other without even saying a word."
Benjamin Alire Sáenz,
Last Night I Sang To The Monster

Sakura honestly hadn't expected to find herself in the situation she was in, bundled up on the edge of Providence, Rhode Island with the attorney to her Great Aunt's will. There were eighteen other family members, all closer in relation to the deceased, that the property should have gone to. The old woman had died little over a year ago and still the house was in a trust, unclaimed by anyone.

"Why I am here?" Sakura asked again, already knowing the answer Kakuzu would share with her.

"It's your turn to try and see if you will be the one inheriting these lands. The will stipulates six months residency in the property to complete the transfer of ownership. So far, none of the other relations have managed to last longer than a month."

"Why?" Sakura turned to face the impossibly tall and imposing figure who was supposedly as old as her great aunt.

Kakuzu looked down at her over the edge of his scarf. His eyes were obscured by the shades but that didn't help the shiver she felt in her bones. She knew his eyes were on her and she refused to flinch or back down. He intimidated too many people, Sakura would not be one of them.

"If you would like to know the details of each member's choice to disqualify themselves then you may ask them directly. I am not at liberty to discuss such confidential matters so carelessly."

"I don't think you discuss much of anything carelessly, old man," Sakura scoffed, glaring at the shoulders of the long tan coat he wore over his three piece suit.

Kakuzu didn't turn back around to face her and didn't make any indication he had heard her comment, but Sakura felt it in her bones again, the sensation of something unseen, and knew he was laughing at the idea of her.

She cursed at him again in her mind, just because she didn't like him. She cursed at the cold too, just because she didn't like the way her ears stung with each breeze. Today might have been the wrong day to tie up her hair in a messy bun.

"Are you coming?" He barked over his shoulder.

Sakura grunted and hiked her own shoulders before following him up the long driveway, bracing against the smell of salt was in every breeze, even if the river filtering into the sea was several miles away.

Kakuzu stopped at the door and Sakura paused a moment to watch him work on the realtor's lock box for the key.

The housed was less house and more barn with a brick exterior and large green doors that might have once split open for cows and tractors, not houseguests. Off to the side there was a smaller green door used for main entry that Kakuzu finally opened and swept wide for her.

"It's a one bedroom one bath studio, but the square feet is what makes it impressive," Kakuzu begins.

Sakura ducks past him into the house and sees what he means about it being one room. From wall to wall there is the kitchen, living room, and bedroom all without walls or divisors. Towards the back there is a ladder that leads up into a loft area that had been used as storage. Sakura could see several seafaring trunks and crates stacked up and set aside.

Kakuzu led her on a short tour that seemed unnecessary considering the open lay out of the house. Sakura could see everything and guessed why some of the stuffier family members chose to pass the house over if the stipulation was that they had to live out of it for six months. It wasn't the most luxurious of places, but for someone like Sakura, it was perfect and really suited her well.

"Total property value is about 320,000. Or at least that is what it was estimated at last fall. You might be able to attract the right sort of buyer with more targeted advertising. Regardless, this may be yours per meeting the requirements of the will. See it here."

Kakuzu led her to a box on the wall next to the door that was small enough for a simple keypad. From his front pocket he produced a card with her name and a number on it.

"This is your code. Type it in every day for six months to validate the contract. Special circumstances such as vacations and overnight trips must be prior approved so that the code may be manually entered off site by the executioner of the will, which is myself."

"It seems like a lot of bother, but okay," Sakura hummed.

She reached for the card and Kakuzu relinquished it gladly. Turning it over she saw her name in gold ink as well as her birthdate month and day. The four digit number would be her code.

"Any last words of advice?" She asked, looking up.

Kakuzu was already packing up his briefcase after leaving some documents for her on the kitchen table. "My number is listed on all these documents for when you want to bow out. Good day to you then, Ms. Sakura Haruno."

He left without a word further.

Eight days and nothing but boredom troubled her. Sakura watched plenty of television, went on walks, bought food, and decorated a small corner of the house. There were so many interesting books to look through too, Sakura had trouble choosing just one. Three different ones lay half finished on the nightstand, marked in different places.

Sakura was a little frustrated with the itch in her bones, past where she could reach, that told her to be weary of something.

It was on the eighth night she heard the sounds and actually recognized them as voices.

Sakura stepped out of bed and grabbed the silk kimono hanging off the end to slip over her nightshirt, strapy and thin.

She turned the lights on and they flickered, dimmed, and went out. They weren't blown, but the energy wasn't eating to them to fed them. Something had disrupted that flow.

Sakura stood in her socks and waited for her eyes to adjust. She focused on the things she knew like the island and the chairs and the fireplace, and waited till her eyes could see them. There was enough moonlight filtering in to see by if she waited.

The noise came again and she grabbed one shoddy iron knuckle to slip over her left hand before looking around.

The house was one large room, a bathroom, and a loft.

The bathroom was cleared right away and nothing was downstairs. Sakura climbed the ladder to the loft and scampered up over the edge, left hand raised slightly. Things were darker in the loft but not by much.

Sakura stepped where she remembered there to be cleared spaces and got halfway before she noticed the steam trucks had been moved. Her path to the black had been blocked.

Instead of moving it back, she climbed over and shimmied under the low beams into the space with just enough moonlight to see by.

The back of the loft was empty.

Sakura went to turn back but a loud scream ripped through her like a force that made her bones shake. The sound came from nowhere and everywhere, washing over her and making her stagger. She looked up in time to brace as the heavy trunk moved across the floor right into her. She stopped it before it could smash her against the wall but her shoulder throbbed from the effort. She could feel the bruises blooming.

The scream was gone but the whisper returned.

'Go back, go back, go back.'

The next day Sakura ices her shoulder and pulls out a whole new set of books to read through as much as she can.

When the voices begin again at dark she stays in her bed, surrounded by salt, and sleeps through the night.

"So, have you figured out why the house is such a dive for the rest of the family?" Tenten asks her over tea and muffins.

They took a table outside and Sakura is content to melt in her seat and let the autumn winds have their way with her loose hair. She's developed a fondness for the cold she can't explain.

Sakura picks up her milk tea and levels it with her lips before replying. "I've got some theories. It's a bit of a mess and that side of the family is too petty."

Tenten snorts while Sakura helps herself to some more of her milk tea.

"That's a mild understatement. I mean, this is the half of the family you've been feuding with for the past fifty to sixty years, right? They're the complete opposite of you."

Sakura glared slightly, narrowing her eyes. "Oh, what is that supposed to mean?"

"You're you, Sakura."

"Elaborate."

The Chinese brunette rolled her eyes before tapping the edge of the table and looking away. She watched a couple pass before grinning back at Sakura, "You're unique in a way that doesn't fit anywhere."

"I feel like that's the nice way to insult someone."

"No, it's good, it's good, I promise. Hey, you're a down to earth sort of person and you're nice and kind. You don't put on airs or think less of others for their blood."

Sakura managed a grin and playfully fanned herself, fluttering her lashes in the wind. "Oh, do go on and tell me more about how amazing of a person I am."

Tenten's expression softened but remained playful. "You're also super humble and never vain, nope, not ever."

Sakura snorted before siping more of her tea. "What's that? I like getting dressed up a little more these days, that's all."

"For who?"

"For me."

"You don't even leave that new house most days. It's been a few weeks now and this is the first we've had to talk. You sure there isn't some crazy woman in the attic you're spending all your new free time with?"

Sakura smirked and it was devious and flirtatious and it might have made Tenten a little nervous or a little giddy or a little both.

"That would be awfully Romantic with a capital R, don't you think? Or maybe it would be more Gothic. I can't remember how long ago it's been since I read Jane Eyre all the way through, unabridged."

Tenten did her best to hide her grumble and her blush. Sakura loved to tease and to flirt all around the table, but that's all she after years of friendship, Tenten didn't feel like she was much closer to the girl that seemed so open she was transparent. Everyone was friends with Sakura, but then…how many of them could say they were ever more than that?

"You said you were doing a lot of reading, though" said Tenten.

Sakura waved a hand as if to dismiss the thought. "Yeah, but it's all mostly boring non fiction stuff on the history of the property and the town and the settlers here. I've been trying to dig into the history for some insight on the property problems. Not enough time for romance novels."

"That's a shame. I'd love to have enough time to sit at home and do nothing but read romance novels with tea."

Sakura's eyes danced with teasing. "What are you talking about, you'd go crazy like that!" she laughed. "You're too active to sit too long. We've only been here an hour and already I can see your leg bouncing.

Tenten sucked up the last dredges of her Vanilla Bean frappuccino, frowning around the straw when only air came up. "I can be sarcastic sometimes too," she grumbled.

She noticed her leg was bouncing and stopped it.

"Fine, then you can come with me to the local witch shop in town for some magic stuff because that's what I'm digging right now, and don't give me that look like I'm crazy, it's just mostly for fun! The Barn might be haunted, might not, but I'm going to have fun taking precautions. Wanna come?"

Tenten stood and followed Sakura without a hesitation.

That night Sakura drew her salt circle and laid out the quartz. In the morning the salt was still there, undisturbed, but the rose color of her quartz had blackened overnight and a long gash ran through the middle. Sakura threw the useless rock out and replaced it with another, and then another, and then another.

After fifteen dollars worth of quartz she went back to the woman running the shop to show off her handful of corrupted stones.

The old woman's eyebrows rose and she looked up to study Sakura more critically. Her brows stayed high when she saw that Sakura wasn't shaking or visibly disturbed.

"I'll get you the good stuff this time," she said before disappearing into the back.

It was almost three weeks before the first damage. Sakura woke up and found the canvas she had been prepping torn clean through. Another one was impaled on the point of the easel.

Hesitating, she removed the impaled one and frowned at the hole splitting the seascape she had painted several years back. For the first time since moving in, something close to anger curled along the base of her spine. More than when she had been hurt, the injury she suffered with the loss of her painting was twice as hurtful. She could heal from bruises, but with all the nerve damage in her left hand, she would never paint the same way and the number of pieces from her 'prime' were limited.

"You don't do this," she hissed to the air.

She set the canvas down next to the easel and reached for a book, one marked with bright neon sticky notes in a handful of colors. She went to a page marked with blue notes.

She hadn't finished the page only because she hadn't planned on following the plan it laid out, but she felt hurt and hurt motivated her well.

For payment she gave up some of her long hair, not enough to change her hairstyle, just a few strands. She left it in the silver bowl and mixed in the other items from the magic shop, including 'the good stuff.'

It burned together before she could reach for a match and suddenly the rolls of cloud came billowing out in plumes of stark gray and blue. It billowed impossibly far and thick from a bowl so small until the whole room was choked thinly, and then thickly.

In the midst of the room a figure flickered, caught like a lightning storm in humanoid form. It flared dangerously, warping like a bolt one way and then the other.

Sakura was a mouthful of muttered curses that weren't even magical in nature, but as she drew the chalk circle around the creature, they seemed to become magical based purely on her will.

The circle finished and the creature was trapped.

It started to scream and hiss and made moves for the edges only to flicker back to the center of the ring and try all over again with more annoyance. It twisted on itself and shrieked louder than ever as Sakura watched on.

Anger made her pleased for her success, but it didn't make her blind or dumb. The creature shrieking wasn't the one she remembered hearing. The cloud was also not done with her, as it continued to billow.

She turned to explore the room and felt new fear in her bones when she saw two-no-three different new figures held on by the smoke. She ran to draw their circles in chalk as well, only to realize after binding three more figures, there was on more in the loft, as more smoke snaked up that way.

"No wonder I went through so many stones," Sakura huffed to herself, climbing the ladder and trapping two more figures in white chalk circles.

Each figure trapped shrieked loud and fierce, but not one of them seemed able to make a dent in their bindings to escape. Eventually the smoke drifted out and Sakura was left alone with the nearly invisible figures flickering in their white chalk cages.

Sakura felt hurt in her hand and curled her fingers as best she could, trying with care to ignore the phantom sensations.

'They'll hurt more if you think about them.'

None of the figures took on features or forms that were visible after the first four minutes, and after another four, it looked like they wouldn't either.

Hitting the books once more, Sakura read and Sakura learned.

The seals in the diaries were hard to replicate, especially with her right hand, but after an hour of retries, she had the sigil of the owl eyes drawn in chalk on the floor. Parts of it were still rough, but she liked it all the same.

"Show me," she said out loud before pressing a stone into the center and letting an energy she hadn't used in years flicker and then flow out of her.

Sakura spent her magic and it came out hurting her left hand as badly as it had the day it wrecked havoc there. She ignored the pain and used her left hand as the medium once more.

'Even broken, my bones are still stronger than this,' she hissed to herself. She remembered what she was and it was like riding a bike after six years off.

The spell hooked and her magic sang in her bones before activating the seal and lighting up the rings of white around each figure.

The language of their curse spilled out in a voice she understood only because of the owl sigil. She had not seen magic of such a nature ever before, but what she didn't know she learned, and there was plenty of reading to help her with that.

The stone and the owl drawing were both spent, burning away after use, but the young bone witch ran back to the books and found a new one on curses. The ingredients were rare and hard to come by, but if Sakura didn't already have them, the apothecary trunk in the loft did.

Sakura climbed up and found the box that flipped open to reveal a dozen rows of drawers, each one filled with a different, old, ingredient that seemed too useless to value. Everything Sakura needed was there, even the blood iron.

The sun had once been young and swollen in the sky with morning, but now it was high and descending. Sakura worked on a new seal, this one far more intricate and tipped at each end with a unique ingredient.

When Sakura looked to the circles made from chalk she knew they were thinner. They wouldn't last forever. She had a few more hours left and the seal would take almost that long to draw again and again. She had to take the number of bodies and divide them by three and then draw enough seals so that each person was fed a magic that could break it out of the original enchantment. Her hand shook terribly and she remembered it was half a day and a night since she last ate, but she forced herself to work. It would be close.

'If only my damn hand worked,' she screamed at herself.

She filled the last seal and then drew a white line from the edge of each one to a new circle she stood in the middle of. She twirled a iron fire poker and then held it out horizontal. It was the best she had on hand for curse breaking. Iron wands were hard to find, but fire pokers were just as good with a little imagination.

The sun was low and burning a brilliant orange behind her head.

Sakura's magic came up like an obedient creature, sluggish at first and then eager. Too long it had been since she last used it.

"Iron to break!"

She slashed the air with the fire poker and there was a wave of magic.

"Blood to bind!"

Her Voice boomed as she drew the end of the fire poke across her arm, away from her hand with all the sensitive nerve endings. A rich line of brilliant red seeped to the surface, beaded, and dripped on the floor, hitting the white of the chalk. She held it out to let more fall.

"The Will of Mind!"

With the last of her spell, the magic swelled out of her, turning her eyes a blinding green. She felt herself bloat with magic, her bones sang with it, before it came out in a rush and followed the pattern of the seals like a train on a track. Those all lit up and the lines that connected each seal to the trap rings glowed too.

Sakura didn't see it, but felt it first when the layers of an old and evil curse peeled off the figures like scales on an old dragon. She was an ancient creature full of magic ripping off the old skin of an aged witch long since dead.

The curse manifested as a form for a moment and Sakura heard it.

"There is no room in the world for monsters like these."

Sakura looked with eyes still blazing green.

"Go, be at peace, your work is at an end. Let it be done, let them pass on."

The curse shrieked even as it faded.

"There is no passing on for these damned ones. Not until-"

There was no more said as the curse became a past thing and suddenly Sakura was on her knees, shaking all over from the rush and emptiness that came close to shattering her skeleton.

Hands reached for her and she felt herself being pulled back into a lap. Someone's palm was on her forehead, feeling the fever there and brushing back sweaty strands of pink hair.

She looked up and saw red eyes framed by lashes as long and dark as his hair.

Something clicked and it made sense as she began to drift.

"Of course I would be stupid enough to free a shinobi hoard."

Whoever he was smiled kindly down at her, but all Sakura could see were gleaming teeth before the world went dark.

"People who have monsters recognize each other. They know each other without even saying a word."
Benjamin Alire Sáenz,
Last Night I Sang To The Monster

AN:Likely you have seen this on tumblr where I originally published it, but I really like finding everything in one place, so I'm uploading it all onto this site as well.

This is chapter one and at this point in time, there are seven published chapters. I'll be updating this as the days go on-but it's a fun little side project that IS NOT going to turn into a novel. It'll not be that long. It's just a side gig.

I just really like witches.