(We've seen this in a bunch of animes:Flame of Recca, DBZ, you name it, its happened in it)
Thats one reason why I don't want to see him live, because we have seen it too much.

But I do agree with you that Neji does have a deep story that he adds and it would be a sad loss to the series.
However, perhaps Kishimoto wasn't able to come up with a direction for the Hyuuga angle or figured that he had too many storylines involved and decided to scrap it by killing off Neji. Or another twist could be that the news of Neji's death finally induces Hinata to step up and realize her full potential and become the true heir to the Hyuuga Clan.