(A/N: Yay! See I'm updating faster! Lol, I love this story again! It's sooooo easy to write now! As much as you all hated the cliffies they've really helped. I'm sorry but I hope this chapter will make up for it. It's not a cliffy! Well at least, I don't think it is. Hope you like it!)

Taste Tester

Chapter Thirteen: Attack

"Kankuro!" Sakura cried, rushing forward to aid the wounded vampire.

He was bleeding, badly, from numerous wounds all over his body. He was in bad shape and yet his face was hard, serious, and staring straight at Gaara.

"We've got a problem Gaara," he muttered, his fangs showing as he gave a silent snarl.

"What is it? Who did this to you?" Gaara demanded, his eyes darkening at the sight of his brother wounded.

"Demons."

"Demons?" Sakura questioned, using the sides of her towel to wipe some of the blood off of his body.

"How many?" Gaara questioned.

"At least 30 of them. Temari and I just arrived back home when they attacked. She's still back there holding them off but she needs help," Kankuro explained, his fists clenching angrily.

Gaara nodded then quickly grabbed Sakura and pulled her into the shack. It had been quite some time since their little family encountered any demons so this was rare and terrifying at the same time. The three siblings were strong but could they really handle 30 demons? Gaara didn't know but he didn't want to lose his home to those fiends.

"Gaara?"

Gaara froze at the sound of Sakura's voice. "Yeah?"

She was completely dressed as she appeared beside him, thankfully, but she looked extremely worried. "Will Temari be alright?"

"If we get there soon she will be. Temari is tough; she can handle a few little demons," Gaara replied, taking her hand and tugging her back outside.

Kankuro was staring into the forest as the two approached him once more. His fists were clenched and a fierce snarl was etched into his features. He looked pissed.

Sakura pulled away from Gaara to gently grasp Kankuro's hand, making him glance down at her. "Are you ok Kankuro?" she questioned, examining his wounds.

His hard expression softened before he smirked at patted her head, "I'll be alright. I'm a vampire, remember? These wounds will heal in no time."

Sakura didn't look totally convinced but she nodded anyways then stepped back into Gaara's embrace.

Gaara lifted her into his arms then nodded to Kankuro, "Let's go."

Kankuro nodded then before Sakura could figure out what the hell was happening, they were racing through the forest again, going even faster than earlier.

'Temari…please be alright…'

Gaara squeezed her comfortingly, but it was the most he could do. He wasn't too worried since he had seen his sister fight before, but never against 30 demons at once. Kankuro was the worst the fighter out of all three of them so it was no surprise that he had taken a pretty harsh beating. Like Sakura, he could only hope that Temari was ok.

"Just a word of warning, the house was taking a huge beating when I left. I'll bet a hundred bucks that it's on fire when we get there," Kankuro cautioned from beside them.

"That's not funny Kankuro. That's our home," Gaara hissed, not wanting to think of their house in that condition.

It had taken forever to get away from their father. He wasn't too willing to let his children go so easily. He had put up a good fight and even when they managed to escape, their father had made it impossible for them to buy any house throughout the country. To put it simply, he was a very rich man. The trio had been living out their lives on the run, making camp wherever they could. It was a miracle when they stumbled upon the mansion.

The house had been completely empty and in pretty bad shape, but obviously their father knew nothing about it and it soon became their permanent home. It's going to be a dick and a half to find a new place to live. Definitely not something Gaara was looking forward too.

"I know, I don't want to think about it either," Kankuro replied, frowning at the thought.

For Sakura all of this was hard to take in. Before them, she had never known that vampires existed. Now she thought that vampires were the top of the food chain. She didn't think there were any other types of creatures out there as well. It was frightening and she was worried that these demons were foes even vampires couldn't fight.

Suddenly, Gaara's arms stiffened around her making her worry, "Gaara?"

"…Blood…"

Her own ran cold at the sound of his voice. His voice had taken a new tone, a very frightening one. Obviously this entire situation wasn't pleasing him in the slightest.

Kankuro growled then roared, "Temari!"

Before Sakura even had time to look over at him, he was gone, happening run far ahead of them to get to his sister.

Gaara slowed quickly before coming to a complete stop. Setting Sakura on her feet, she glanced around and saw a haunting glow in the distance. 'Fire…' she thought, her fingers grasping her shirt in fear.

"Sakura I need you to stay here," Gaara began, taking her face gently between his hands.

Sakura tried to shake her head but Gaara was far too strong, "No! I can't stand around while you all are fighting and getting hurt!"

"I can't have you getting hurt either! You more fragile than the rest of us. You will die if you go out there!"

"I won't die! I'm not as weak as you think!" she hissed, glaring at him.

"Against demons? Sakura, demons are vampires' greatest enemies. Even we have trouble fighting them," he explained, not wanting to argue with her on this.

Sakura closed her eyes as unwanted tears began to appear, "I can't let you go alone…"

Suddenly she was engulfed by two strong arms and pulled tightly against a very familiar chest. Wrapping her arms tightly around Gaara's neck, she buried her face into the crook of his neck and cried as silently as she could.

"Sakura please…do this for me. Stay here, be safe. I can't let you follow me into that fight. I can't lose you…I can't lose you dammit!" His hands grasped her form tighter at his words making her whimper.

Incapable of speech, she thought, 'Gaara…!'

With one last squeeze, he pulled back and held her at arms' length. As much as he wanted to pour his heart out to her, now was not the time. He couldn't say goodbye to her either. He didn't want to think that this might be the last time he'd ever see her, ever hold her in his arms.

With a growl he captured her lips in a fierce, consuming kiss, willing her to understand the feelings he couldn't say out loud. Whether she understood or not, he couldn't tell but she met his passion with her own, evenly. 'Is this really the last time my lips will touch hers?' He didn't want to know the answer to that. He just wanted to make this moment last forever.

His kissed her until she was desperate for air. Pulling back, she panted feverishly, though her eyes never left his stare. This was the girl he needed, the one he desperately wanted to keep alive and by his side. She was his, whether she realized this or not.

"I have to go Sakura. Promise me you'll stay here?"

Sakura forced back her tears, "I promise. I won't move."

"…Thank you…" he whispered breathlessly, before placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Go save Temari and Kankuro. Keep them both alive," she urged.

Gaara nodded, "I'll bring them back to you."

Sakura smiled, "Thank you."

It was hard but Gaara took one last, long look at her before he stepped back and turned to run for the house.

"One last thing!"

Gaara spun back around, "Yes?"

Sakura stared at him for a moment before she smirked, "You better not die on me, Gaara. I'm not done with you yet."

He couldn't hold it back. He smiled, a real full smile, "I won't, I promise."

"Good, now get out of here!"

With a confident nod, he turned and raced into the forest, leaving Sakura to wait anxiously for his return.

Gaara froze at the sight of his house on fire. It was horrible! There were flames leaping out of almost every window on the first floor. His beautiful home was going to burn to the ground and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

There were quite a few demons standing around the door, as if they had been expecting him. He smirked wickedly at the sight of the slain demons that littered the ground at their feet. They were weak demons, most likely newborns. Demons aren't like humans or vampires and age much differently. They're born, like humans, but don't age. They transform every 20 years into stronger and older demons. The usually stop aging around mid-30's in human years.

The stages were simple: babies, children, newborns, adult, elite, and ancient. Demons didn't receive their powers until they reached the newborn stage, hence the name. These newborns were unstable and weak, easy pickings for a vampire.

By the time they finally noticed Gaara's presence, it was too late. The angered vampire tore through them like they were nothing, slicing them in half as he raced around in a blur. Normally he was pretty strong, but when he was pissed he was unstoppable.

"Gaara!"

Gaara finished off the last demon outside then raced into the house after hearing his brother's cry. "Kankuro!"

"Well, well, well…so our last guest finally arrives…"

A new demon had appeared behind him, standing the doorway he had just entered and he hadn't even been able to sense it. 'How the hell-?'

"Fear not young blood. We aren't here to kill you," the demon explained, calmly walking past him without a shred of fear.

"Who…who are you?!" Gaara demanded, glaring fiercely at the red-haired demon.

"The name's Sasori. I am a demon, obviously, a part of a demon gang known as the Akatsuki. Ever hear of us?"

He hadn't. He had never spoken to a demon before.

"What is it your after?" he asked, calming down slightly.

"Not long ago we dropped a human off in a place not too far from here. We had only been messing around at the time, finding some humor in picking on feisty human girls. Recently, we found out some interesting information on that girl we misplaced, and we would like to have her back. We searched that silly Amish village but found it utterly torn to shreds but thankfully her body was nowhere to be found. However, your stinking scent of everywhere. Now I will ask only once, where is that girl?"

This was a lot to take in. 'They're after…Sakura?'

"What do you want with her?!" he growled, crouching down defensively.

"The female demons in our race have died out. There are absolutely none left so if the rest of us happen to die somehow, there will no longer be demons in existence. Sad, isn't it? Well legend has it that one certain human has the blood and power to bear a demon child. We need that girl, and we need her now. That woman is in your care and we would like it very much if we had her back," Sasori explained, his eyes flashing menacingly.

"What makes you think she's here now?" Gaara questioned.

"Well we don't have absolute proof but it's a chance we were willing to take."

"Sasori…"

Again, another demon appeared without Gaara noticing. His fists clenched at his own weakness.

This new demon had long blonde hair and a weird looking scope on his eye.

"Yes Deidara?" Sasori questioned.

"The place is empty, yeah. Her scent is fresh and all over the place but she's not here."

Sasori stiffened for a moment before he glanced back at Gaara, "Where is she?"

Gaara sniffed, "She's a human, her blood calls out to us."

Deidara froze, "You mean you-"

"You wouldn't. She's not your type, even I know that," Sasori murmured.

"Human is my type. If you don't believe me," Gaara sliced his arm making blood appear out of the wound, "take a whiff."

Deidara didn't move, knowing full well the affects vampire blood had on demons. Their blood was poisonous for demons, just as demon blood was poisonous to vampires. Neither could touch the other blood without burning and crying out in pain. It was the one major cause of death between the two creatures.

Sasori wasn't afraid, for he strode forward calmly and grasped Gaara's arm and lifted the wound to his nose. He was overly familiar with the girl's scent by now and would easily be able to detect the scent of it if it was indeed, in his system.

Suddenly he froze and closed his eyes, breathing in the blood more deeply. "It seems we have made a mistake…"

"What?!" Deidara cried, angered that he had wasted his time on a fruitless mission.

"Vampire, what you say is true. You have tasted her blood but that is all. There isn't enough of her blood in your veins to prove that you've killed her. She's alive somewhere, but you've probably got her hidden somewhere in the forest, somewhere where we may not find her," Sasori murmured, releasing his arm.

He walked back to the doorway then paused, "Deidara gather up the others. Leave the newborns to do as they please but bring the adults with you."

Deidara growled but nodded, "Fine, yeah."

Sasori nodded then vanished into thin air leaving Gaara alone with the girly-looking vampire.

Deidara met his glare for a moment before he hmphed then walked calmly out of the house in search of his fellow demons.

Once he had disappeared from sight, Gaara raced the burning staircase in search of his siblings. Their blood was fresh and easy to track. It led right to Sakura's room, most likely the place where most of the fighting had taken place.

"Temari? Kankuro?" Gaara called as he entered the dark room.

"In the bathroom," Kankuro called back.

Gaara entered the bathroom only to freeze at the sight before him. Temari was lying across the counter with her eyes closed in pain. There was blood all over the place, pouring out of every wound on her body. It was a terrible sight to witness, even for a vampire. Kankuro was standing over her, trying to clean up as many wounds as he could.

"Are you both alright?" Gaara asked, moving closer.

"We'll live," Temari bit out, her eyes staying closed.

Kankuro snorted, "You won't live if you keep talking, cause I'll be the one to kill ya."

"Try it I dare you," she hissed, one eye opening slightly to stare at him.

"Knock it off guys, you can tease each other later," Gaara scolded, shaking his head in disgust.

Temari sighed then closed her eye again. "Fine. Where's Sakura?"

"Safe."

"Good answer, but how do you know?" Kankuro questioned.

Gaara stiffened, "I don't really but I left her far enough away from here that she wouldn't be found."

"You better hope so. These guys were thorough."

"Go find her Gaara. She isn't safe until she's with you," Temari ordered.

Gaara wanted too; every bone in his body was crying out for him to go get her. But he couldn't leave his family either, not with those demons around.

"Go dammit!" Temari shouted, her eyes flashing open to glare at her brother.

He hesitated for a moment then nodded, "Alright, stay safe."

"We'll be fine. Go get her, tiger," Kankuro replied with a wink.

Gaara smirked then raced back downstairs, frowning as the flames spread throughout the house. He didn't have much time. He had to find Sakura then get back to his siblings before the house burnt down. He would make it though, he had too.

With a growl he raced out of the burning doorway and into the forest to find the part of him he had left behind: His heart.

(Ta-da! Chapter Thirteen is finished! Now onto chapter 14! Next one should be easy to write too so I'll have that one up in no time! Thanks for sticking with me people! I love the support! I'll keep updating, just for you lovely readers and reviewers! I love all my reviewers! You're all so wonderful!! Thank you!!)