Originally posted by: Boogster
I've got to say, I agree with the topic of this thread. If anything, a death becomes even more crucial with the somewhat dubious entrance of the Sand Shinobi.
Then, there would be necessary three deaths.

As for Chouji. I guess I've said it before, but he has always acknowledge Shika as an exceptional ninja and even if he doesn't understand his actions at first, he does trust Shika and his intelligence.
Shika is notorious for being lazy and therefore, assumed as unreliable. So, when he was tricking Joroubou, all of them doubted Shika. All but Chouji. In a war situation, a good soldier will acknowlege his leader and trust his life to him.
Obvioulsly, if Shikamaru was promoted to Chunnin, that means that he's a good leader and he should be trusted.
And, just because he acknowledges that, Chouji deserves a great deal of credit. Not everybody can be the brightest lightbulb in the box, but even a 20watt light does a great job when put in the right place.
All charaters have their virtues and flaws (well, except for Sakura and Sasuke[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]) I think one of the functions of the story is to make the reader/viewer realize that, and acknowledge that every character has his own unique and important place in the whole.
Having said that, I still wish that Sakura and Sasuke burn in hell...