Please correct me if I am wrong, but I think that the whole Hinata - Naruto romance comes more from the anime than the manga.
I don?t recall in the manga seeing too much of this cutie cutie romantic relation between them. It have a very strong impression that this romantic couple desire comes mainly from the anime.
Naruto?s manga style doesn?t focus too much on romantic relationships at all. But the anime surely explored it a lot more, ex: Asuma and Kurenai, Naruto and Sakura and Hinata, etc, etc, etc.
If Hinata dies, I don?t think it will greatly impact the manga. On the other hand, the anime writers are going to have a really hard time with it...as will the fans.
Peace.
Where the hell is Kakashi?
Either kishi has too much on his hands right now or he really killed him.