There's only one member of the rookie 9 who should be guaranteed dead right now, and thats...Wait for it.
Naruto
yes Naruto should be dead. he took a Chidori to the chest a wound that should have resulted in mass collapse of his lung as well as electrocution. If you followed the fight he allo had his neck broken by a manuever that should have shattered his skull, and compression fractured his spine.
Yet miracle of miracles his tenenat regenerated wounds that should have been instantly fatal.
No other of the rookie 9 with the exception of lee has taken such serious injuries on screen.
Choji was not dead. He was dying. lets clear this up right away because Its becoming a somewhat silly argument. The red pill did not say it would KILL him outright ((like people seem to be arguing it would)) He says ""If I take It ill die.""
As in the taking of that pill will most likely be fatal. Not if i eat this ill die immediately like a suicide pill. its that the pill would do damage to his ssytem that would end up with him dying.
Choji was saved by the intervention of the medical squads who it was established that Tsunade sent after them. theyt stabilized him long enough for Tsunade to study the Nara clan manual and create the cure needed to arrest the pills affects. the rest is his own healing ability as he rests.
Neji
Neji was not dead he toow as dying and In point of fatc Neji had more capability to survive then Choji if were honest. Neji took two non fatal ((if admittedly painful)) penetration wounds. the impacts of those wounds were in relatively non vital areas that while if left untreated would almsot certianly lead to his death. but again the medical Squads ((read again plural squads as in multiple of them)) were able to find and stabilize him.
multiple gunshot wounds are painful and survivable with medical treatment. Ive even seen Impalements of people that by rights should have killed them yet they survived.
Lee was sevrerly injured yes, yet Lee had the advantage of having the most brilliant medical ninja in the history of the Shinobi world on his side. That she was able to heal his injuries was actually non consequential if were honest. What was more important was that his overcoming those injuries was a testament to his promise as a "Genius of Hard work" more then Tsunades treatment.
it was used as a story element to show how important dreams are to people how they were willing to fight for there dreams instead of giving up. in fact the moment he decieded to take the surgery Tsunade herself had a moment where she recognized Sarutobi senseis accomplishment of growing the will of fire amongst this youngfer generation. a genreration that would not give up their dreams at any cost.
Gaara. Now Gaara was most certianly dead i agree. Yet Gaaras resurection was NOT I repeat NOT about not killing the younger generation.
It was about the older generation passing on its dreams and hopes to the newer one. As well as Naruto and Sakuras power to change people for the better.
in the moment Chiyo an elder shinobi froma generation that valued strength and ruthlessness over compassion and love. A woman who would no sooner help her village then she would walk barefoot on cactus plants. makes a powerful choice.
having witnessed Sakura take a near fatal stab wound for her. haivng seen first hand the force of Narutos personality and the power of his dreams. Chiyo does something that a few chapters before this moment she would have thought absurd.
she channels all her chakra into a technique guranteed to kill her. She isnt able to do it as she lacks the chakra yet Naruto offers his own to a technique that may risk his own life as well. yet it works and Gaara is revived. Thus sealing the brotherly bond between them.
As she dies Chiyo passes her will to Sakura and Naruto
Their futures are differnet from our past
It was her wish that Naruto become a hokage liek none before and she told Skaur ahow she amdires her in a sense for psosessing a spirit unlike that of few other Kunoichi.
Gaaras death and revival had a storng symbolism behind it was not a coveneient plot to reveive a popular character as has been rehashed endlessly here.
Hinatas death too has symbolism. It did not come out of elft field as many believe. While her plot relevance had been waning sometimes a singular event can be used to drag them kicking and screaming into the spotlight again.
Her confession closes the shy wallflower chapter of her life and ends her plot relevance period. As othes have stated her confession before her death is actually a well used anime trope. other characters ((forgive me I cant recall to many examples at the moment)) have used this trope before.
Yufi and Shirley from Code Geass come to mind before there deaths both confessed to loving someone. Shirley to lelouch.
I honestly give Kishimoto props for this moment. It takes a lot fo guts to kill a character, any character honestly. especially one you KNOW will envoke an outraged fan response.
But as long as the editors dont cave in and have him pull some ressurection nojutsu BS on her becaus eof ehr popularity things will be fine.
Her sacrafice was as she stated a selfish act based on her admiration and love for him. It brings forth again KIshimotos use of themes in the manga. the ultimate sacrafice is that of your life for the one you love most.
Hinata has done so and in the fashion of one who sacrafices themselves she lifted the veil off her heart and embraced her feelings wholeheartedly. She knew she was going to die and dint care as long as it protected the one she cared for.
Its why Naruto was able to use such tremendous power without using the 9 tails in his fight agaisnt Gaara. his absolutel need to protect Sakura whom he loves.
The key to keep in mind is that every death in Naruto the story has a symbolism. from the symbolism of Haku sacraficing himself to save Zabuza whom he cared about ((thus reinforcing the lesson to Naruto))
to the sensless death of Shizune and Asuma who were murdered to show the callous nature of the Akatsuki in pursuit of their goals. Their willingness to kill without remorse to achive their ends.
Hinatas death has a great signifigance. What remains to be seen is what that signifigance is and how it will affect those who have inherited her legacy.
Cheers Catsi, spoiled Code geass for me
anyhow you are right, it seems people tend to forget there is a storyteller who has a vision about how his story should go and no matter how many people, like Hinata has sufferd even worse injuries and lived, her death is way to symbolic to let her live after this thing