"ur character reminds me of..."

Is it the colors?

Is it that a happy kid is friends with a grumpy kid?

is it that Ray has a headband, blonde spiky hair and literally cat eyes and yet everyone says that it is not Ray but Sam who reminds them of Naruto? Even though Sasu-... Spike interacts with Ray as well?

Yes; we're in the self deprecating corner today XD

Honestly though, I never meant for them to resemble any of Kishimoto's characters.
I used to love reading Naruto when I was little/young(er), but I felt it lost its charm right around when Shippuuden started and haven't read any since. I've gotten all the spoilers though so I'm sort of updated anyway.

I guess why I got all defensive about not wanting people to compare Spike to Sasuke, was that first of all I never intended for there to be a resemblance between them, and secondly; Sasuke is my absolute LEAST favorite character in the Naruto series, truth be told I can't stand the guy.
My favorites were Shikamaru, Choji, Inari, Gaara and Rock Lee. And Kiba I guess, but like most people with dogs I usually just like them because of their dog.
Okay that was a lie; I don't like them just because of their dogs, but I often like the dog better XD
Kakashi is a good example; like, he's okay and all, but his most redeemable quality in my eyes is that he has a pack of dogs..! OuO
Seriously though, how many guys have not just one dog but a whole PACK? Call me plz, mr random guy with a pack of canines that you treat well <3
Lol I can imagine how any blind dates with me would go:
dude: Hello I am filthy stinking RICH guuurl! Wanna hang out in my castle and swim in a pool of dollarbills?
me:  meh... not interes-
dude: I have three english bull terriers, a kelb tal fenek, two bulldogs and a newfoundland dog.
me: omg u r perfect when can we arrange the ceremony?

But yeah, no. I get why some might think Spike looks like Sasuke, cause despite how I really can't stand Sasuke I have to admit from a sort of neutral point of view that, okay fine; I do see the resemblance. The long black bangs, angry dark eyes and broody first impression. But that's kind of where the resemblances stop. They have vastly different personalities, not to mention back stories, and as far as design goes their hair is the only thing really that is similar. But dude, there are hundreds of cartoon/manga characters with long dark bangs, man... And probably equally many short haired blonde dudes.
The only thing Sam and Naruto have in common is that they are both happy-looking, they're boys, and they have short blonde hair.
Ray has way more similarities to Naruto, but that just amuses me because it wasn't intentional either yet I totally see it now and can't unsee it and I am sort of amazed that nobody else have commented on it thus far XD

Two other manga I used to read and love when I was younger, was Shaman King and Blade of the Immortal. The inspiration for Spike's hairstyle was actually more of a homage to Manji and Yoh Asakura, not Sasuke.

...Also Naruto and Sasuke totally remind me of Cloud and Vincent from Final Fantasy.. *cough* just sayin' *cough*  e__e'

Seriously, it is VERY common - and I'll admit fairly unoriginal - to have two main characters with opposing color palettes, moods and other things that are polar opposites of each other. It's almost a cliché at this point, but some clichés are clichés because they actually work, and/or are fun to work with.
It can also be done the other way around, sort of breaking the norm of the dark haired character being grumpy and the blonde character being happy; like in Shaman King with Yoh and Anna they've flipped the tables on that, and a lot of other artists have deliberately chosen to have the blonde/light character have a dark or gloomy personality, or a dark character with a happy and energetic sort of way about them.
I personally like to mix both light and dark within each character, often deliberately masking the light with the dark, or the dark with the light.
I'm a sucker for symbolism so the dark/light design cliché thingies are really fun for me to work with regardless of how common it is. With Spike and Sam I deliberately tried to make them polar opposites of each other, both in design and personality, but also in a way that makes them somewhat symmetrical - but like how their differences are the symmetrical part? Okay that doesn't make sense... Idk how to explain it though XD
But I have put more thought into their design and personalities than it may seem :) subtlety is also deliberate ;) Same goes the other way around: characters who have this very strong "in your face" first impression, like you have a quick glance at them and think you've read how they're like, might surprise you with being very different from what you first thought.
Hopefully though, if not then I haven't done my job properly lol XD Time will tell :)

darn I forgot about the time XD gotta go catch a bus D:

But thanks for reading and thanks for your support ^_^ lots of love to you all <3