Author's Note: So this chapter is definately important to the story; it explains a lot of things that people would have been asking about later. Yay for all the drama coming back! I'll see you all next update!

Kankuro was pacing furiously back and forth, while Temari swung a nervous leg. Kankuro looked over at Shizune and said in a strained whisper, "So why exactly does this need to be done now? Can't we just leave it in there until he gives birth?"

Shizune sighed at the continuous questions. "In a normal pregnancy, yes, some people do that. However, Gaara's pregnancy is much different. He may now have a female anatomy, but that doesn't change the fact that a male's body is not made to hold that many parts. The babies are already vying for room as it is. The dead baby would only damper progress and may even affect the others fatally. If the dead body remains inside Gaara's body, he'll get sick. To top it off, his body doesn't realize that he can't give birth. Only his insides are that of a woman's, not his outside. So until the baby is dispelled, his body will continue to try to evict it. He would be in continual pain and on bed rest for the rest of his pregnancy."

Temari raised a hand to her mouth. "My God."

Lee reeled back from the door and fidgeted from foot to foot. "Will he be okay?"

Shizune looked at him. "Tsunade is the best."

Lee sat down heavily in a chair, wringing his hands in worry. Shizune followed him with her eyes and gave him an encouraging smile. "There's no need to worry. He'll be fine. I told you, Tsunade is the best." Even with this reassurance, the three continued to look worriedly at the door.

Break-

The team was set and ready to go. Tsunade stood next to Gaara and looked down at him. "Are you ready?" Gaara gave his sweaty head a shake. "Alright then; I'll explain a few things about the procedure to you. There is no 'advanced' way to do this operation. Because you're male, we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way, making sure every cut is precise. We will use chakra to help heal up the cuts, so no harm shall come to the other babies or yourself. First a shot will be administered to your abdomen, only to numb it mind you. You will feel all this somewhat and you might feel a little pain; nothing to severe though. That's about it. So lets get started shall we? Rani, administer the shot please."

A young med-nin walked up next to the bed, a long needle in hand. She ran her hand along Gaara's now exposed stomach (his shirt having been taken a long time ago) until she found the spot she wanted. The shot went in and was injected. So far so good.

Gaara felt the pain slowly dissipating. Another med-ninja came up beside Gaara with a scalpel in hand. Tsunade moved closer to the bed, a scalpel now also in her hand. Tsunade nodded her head and the medic slowly lowered the knife towards Gaara's stomach… A viscous whirl of sand spread over Gaara's stomach like a tidal wave. His eyes flew wide open. 'Shit!'

Tsunade gave him a serious look. "What's this?"

"My sand." Gaara whispered.

"Please lower your defenses Gaara. We can't continue until you do."

"I can't."

"What?"

"The sand protects me of its own accord."

Tsunade rubbed an irritated hand across her forehead. "Please try to control it. We must do this surgery."

Gaara closed his eyes and delved within. He started inwardly to talk to the sand, but it was futile. The sand didn't understand how a knife in his belly could possibly benefit in any way. Gaara scowled. He only had one other option. He hated it, but he had to, it was the only thing he could think of.

'Shukaku?'

There was a long silence before the demon finally answered, anger etched in his voice. 'What do you want?'

'Help me.'

'Why?'

'You're a demon of the sand. I need you to help me.'

'Why should I help you?'

'I might die and my babies will die.'

'And I care because?'

'You were the one who made it so I got pregnant in the first place! Why would you want them to die?'

'Because I could really care less.'

'Shukaku, if I die, you're going to be sealed away again!' Gaara thought with venom. He knew it'd hit the spot. 'You really want that?'

'Fine, I'll help.' Shukaku replied with a snarl.

Gaara instantly relaxed again and opened his eyes. He could feel Shukaku coiling inside, as if awakening from a long sleep. Shukaku's power crawled over Gaara's skin and in the recesses of mind he heard a soft, yet clear, 'Ready.'

Gaara looked at an expectant Tsunade and said, "You can continue now."

The med-nin lowered the scalpel onto Gaara's stomach. He flinched, but made no other move as the blade cut a line across his abdomen. Sand slithered along the frame of the bed, attempting to push up Gaara's sides. But it was repelled, almost as if blocked by an invisible wall. The sand beat against, seeming almost livid as it was deterred from its master. Eventually, it gave up its battle, seeping into Gaara's skin as a retreat. It had never had a chance against Shukaku's power.

Break-

An hour later, Tsunade walked out of the room, a small bundle in her hand. Everyone shot up. Lee beat everyone. "How is he?"

With an unreadable expression, Tsunade replied, "He's fine. He passed out two minutes into the surgery."

"And the babies?" Lee said, shaking.

"Both are fine." Lee burst into tears and Temari and Kankuro heaved a sigh of relief. "Lee, I wanted to know whether or not you wanted to see the baby before I take it away. You are the father, correct?" He nodded. "Then do you want to see it?"

Lee put on a brave face and walked over, tears still streaming down his face. Temari and Kankuro were close behind Lee and the three looked down to look upon the child never to see light. It was tiny. Even though it was small, it still had ten fingers and ten toes, and upon its head was a small patch of jet black hair. Lee knelt next to Tsunade and ran a finger on the blanket. "I'm sorry this happened. I know you would have been a great child. I'll always remember you though. And I'm sure your dad will too. Remember, I love you." Lee stood up and looked at Tsunade with a torn expression. "Can I go see him?"

"Yes, just don't wake him up. Let him rest for as long as he needs to."

Lee nodded. "I understand." Then he walked into the operation room.

Tsunade looked at the siblings who were at that moment about to follow Lee. "Wait you two. I need to ask you a question." They looked at her questioningly.

Temari said, "What?"

"Look at this baby. Can either of you tell me how far along this baby is?"

Kankuro gave her a look. "It's almost five months, why?"

"And why do you say that?"

"Cause that's how far along he is."

Tsunade passed the bundle to Shizune who immediately walked away before the fifth continued. "This is where I get confused. You see, this baby is already a little over six months along."

"What?" Temari whispered and Kankuro yelled.

"That's what I said. Now, I know there are only two ways a male can get pregnant. One: there is a special jutsu which allows the user to temporally have female organs, unless they get pregnant of course. This technique however, has only been successfully used once, considering the pregnancy chances are one in a thousand. Two: I have seen one other case where the man was connected to a demon and he and the demon made a deal. He was given the organs by the demon so he could have kids. So, now, let's take a look at this situation we have here. Which is it? Because this…" she nodded her head to where Gaara was now resting, "is a problem."

Temari took the floor. "It has long been a secret of our village, a secret not meant to leave its walls, that Gaara-"

Kankuro cut in. "Are you sure we should tell her this?"

Temari just gave him a glare before continuing. "-while still in the womb was bound to the one tailed sand demon Shukaku. And yes, according to Gaara, Shukaku created the female organs so he could get pregnant. However, this was not Gaara's choice. Shukaku did this, supposedly, to mess with him."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "What type of animal is Shukaku?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Kankuro mumbled.

"Just answer the question."

Temari sighed. "A raccoon."

Tsunade's eyes briefly widened. "Well, that explains a lot."

"What?"

"You see, a raccoon carries its young for two months. A human, obviously, nine. When a male, or a female for that matter, connected with a demon, becomes pregnant, the demon, in its own way, does too. Since Shukaku is a raccoon, many of a raccoon's tendencies are happening to Gaara. In fact, each child holds within them, a demon kit. Because the kits would have been developed by two months, Gaara's pregnancy has been sped up. My estimate, with how things are now, is that Gaara will give birth a whole two months early. That means he should be expecting around the end of the seventh month."

Kankuro flipped out. "Whoa! Wait! Are you saying we only have a little over two months to prepare for these babies? What are we going to do? We still haven't figured out what we're going to do about the village. We're expected back in a week or so. We can't just stay here till he gives birth. Shit! Shit! Shit! What are we going to do Temari?"

Tsunade held up a hand. "Be quiet for a moment." She rubbed her temples. "You're giving me a headache. I'll be sending a message to Suna for you. I'll tell them I need you here for a couple more months. I wouldn't really have even thought about letting you leave anyways. I want to keep Gaara close by so I can monitor the rest of his pregnancy. Once he goes into labor, I'll have to be here. No one else has done this procedure; not any that are alive anyways. Besides, he might have more problems. I can't be sure one way or another. In the end, your best option is to keep him here."

Temari gave a sigh of relief. "Thank you. We are in your debt Hokage."

Tsunade smiled. "No problem." She watched the siblings go through the same doors Lee had while simultaneously, Shizune appeared from around the corner. She turned to her assistant. "Shizune…"

"Yes Hokage?"

"Where's the sake? I need a couple bottles after this one."