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For a while people thought Shikamaru would follow Asuma in his steady so closely that he too, would die. I don't see this happening, but I won't be all that surprised if he dies, either.

Neji is fairly strong, holding his entire clan by the reigns. As a future leader of the Hyuuga heritage, I see his death as pretty unlikely. Though he may be a bountyhead.

Tsunade will either have to die or retire for someone (namely, Naruto) to become the heir of the tradition. Tsunade also acts as though she will die, hinting to Naruto the seat is open to him when she does. But also it is somewhat likely (and would be interesting) if she died, leaving the strongest as Jiraiya would would have to take her place temporarily (we know he's second strongest because he too was asked to be Hokage).

Naruto's death at the moment is inconclusive. Whether or not the Kyuubi will save him, leave him, whether or not Sasuke will kill him, or somehow side with him, or whether or not Naruto will decide to be executed to prevent the Kyuubi's power from spreading, we don't really know. At the moment the manga is pointed towards Shikamaru and Asuma's relationship, with a few Naruto scenes on the side. It's safe to say it'll be a long while before signs (if any) of Naruto's death start to appear.

Sasuke's chances of dying are very high. He is in the bingo book, he is in Orochimaru's care, and his brother still wants to kill him. Sasuke could very well easily lose in a fight against Itachi, but I just plain don't see that happening. If Itachi wanted Sasuke dead, he'd be dead. Also, there is the chance that Sasuke is ready to let Orochimaru take his body. That Naruto comes in. Splits them up. Sasuke instantly feels remorse and commits suicide. Either way, Sasuke's death is far more likely than him living.

I don't see Ino committing sepukku for ANY reason. First of all, she isn't even a samurai. Second, Shikamaru and Chouji could DIE IN HER ARMS and she'd probably still live. Despite her stupidity, immaturity, and recklessness, she is a fairly strong girl, and even if she lost all those things, her compassionate father would likely help her through it.

I see Lee dying protecting Naruto. Yes, I guess Sakura fits in the package but I think that the attacker would be after Naruto, and Lee would be fighting the attacker. But in order for Lee to die I think Gai would have to, also. He would not let Lee go without one hell of a fight.

I see it likely that Kakashi will die. I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but he's been getting tired a lot lately. And he's lost his oomph. He's not really that old, but he sure as hell is acting like it. And what is this business with the wraps on his hand?

I could see Kurenai committing suicide in sorrow. MAYBE.

Other than that I don't have any ideas right now... Well, a lot of badguys are probably going to die.

It's better if Lee died in Neji's arms, telling him that he's a true ninja. I promise Kishi I'll dry my eyes out from the tears cry .

Perhaps seppuku was the wrong word to use. What I basicly meant as that I would easily see her taking over someone else's body, and then commiting suicide in that body, so that she takes out both herself and her enemy. Very noble, very self sacrificing, and pretty much inevitable with the techniqques she uses. We still havn't seen her use her dad's abilities to remote control people without having to posesse them, after all. And I don't get how you could find Ino stupid, but, whatever. Not an Ino thread.

As for Lee dying for naruto, I don't see it. Lee is not attached emotionaly to Naruto the way other characters are. His death for Naruto wouldn't accomplish anything, story-wise. There just isn't the bond there that there is with other people. It won't make for a gripping story twist. Now, Lee dying for Sakura: that makes sense. You have both his promis to her and his love, and it would make for a damned heart-wrenching moment, an echo of the Forest of Death.

I do agree though that Gai is likely to die before Lee. One has to wonder if both of Konoha's Green Beasts are doomed.

Besides, compared to the other ninjas her age, she seems kind of... ahead. Not in terms of rank, but she's an amazing medic, and was the smartest graduating ninja of her class. Even though her Sasori fight was mega lame, you could really see how much more she could do, and how much she could improve. She probably wouldn't be first choice for the position, but neither was Tsunade.

Oh! Oh! Here's a question! Who's gonna kill Itachi?

Will it be Sasuke? Will it be Naruto in his stead? Will it even be Saukra, in some bizzar twist? Or will he just go blind and trip down some stairs instead? Oooooooh~~

It would be neat. The one thing that bugs me, though, is that Kyuubi told Sasuke not to kill Naruto cuz he'd regret it. Why place emphasis on that if we aren't gonna find out what happens? When someone says "don't do this!" in fiction, you can practicaly guarantee that someone will do it. So. . . is Sasuke going to kill Naruto first? eek

I think Kyuubi might have meant that if Sasuke kills Naruto, he'd get out. That would be something to regret.