The Beginning & The End

While on one of those Top-Secret ANBU missions nobody's supposed to know about, Shikako dies. It was really rather upsetting, too. Everything she's ever done - the things she's changed for the better, her mistakes, the people she's met, her family...all of it over because of an enemy genin's particularly lucky shot.
They managed to hit the experimental seal work her target had been working on (it was very interesting). The kunai must have been made of chakra conductive metal, too, since the seal blew up on her and everything.
There was no time for her to escape. She's more than likely dead right now.
But if that's the case, why is she still breathing?