At the start of the series, Sakura's only defining characteristic is her intelligence, largely due to her interest in memorizing things and the taking of quizzes while in the Academy. Because of this, Sakura is unable to contribute largely in battles, her stamina and overall talent being below average. Soon after the start of her first mission, however, Sakura discovers that she has an excellent control over her chakra, and as such she can use jutsu to their maximum efficiency. While this particular ability is never put to great use in Part I, it becomes a focal point of Sakura's fighting style in Part II.
Within Sakura resides an "Inner Sakura", a manifestation of her inner emotions that, aside from comic relief, serves as a representation of Sakura's actual opinion on things when she outwardly displays something opposite. Inner Sakura's appearances are typically marked by an exclamation of "Shannaro" (). The phrase has no literal meaning, but is usually translated as "hell yeah", "hell no", or "damn it" depending on the situation ("Cha!" in the English anime). Inner Sakura's appearances are fairly infrequent, her last appearance being Sakura's fight during the Chunin Exams. Inner Sakura briefly resurfaces later on during one of the anime's filler arcs, and again at the start of Part II. This large gap between appearances is likely due to Sakura becoming more comfortable with herself, and no longer having what she says contrast how she actually feels.
Over the timeskip, Sakura has changed greatly, becoming more mature in personality and tone. She has become more like Tsunade as Naruto Uzumaki has become more like Jiraiya and Sasuke Uchiha has become more like Orochimaru; as each of the priors have been under the latters' tutelage. Although the three members of team seven exhibit similarities to their teachers, they themselves hold characteristics unique to solely themselves.
Having become more comfortable with herself, Sakura no longer relies on Inner Sakura to express her true feelings, instead openly expressing whatever emotion Inner Sakura would have displayed. Sakura has also become closer with Naruto despite their long time apart, being able to work well together and otherwise trying to be more accepting of his personality traits.
Several scenes in Shippuuden hint at the possibility of Sakura developing stronger, more intimate feelings for Naruto, who after two and a half years is still has crush on her. Captain Yamato notices a special tenderness that Sakura has towards Naruto, and tries to explain that bond before he is interupted. He and Sakura had been discussing Sasuke and his bond with Naruto before Sai says "Sakura-san, you're very gentle with Naruto, aren't you? I don't understand feelings like those..." Later in that arc, Naruto loses control of the nine-tailed demon within him, and the sight of a "four-tailed", monstrous Naruto brings Sakura to tears. Memories of Naruto cause her to clutch her heart (with the sound effect "powerful emotion"), and she runs dramatically towards Naruto trying to calm him by saying "Naruto! That's enough! I'll save Sasuke for you!". Sakura is injured by the kyuubi, and she later tells Yamato how she "can only do the dumbest things for Naruto". Yamato smiles and says "It's not what you do for Naruto that's important. It's how strongly you feel about him that counts. Sakura, I can tell just by looking at you. The truth is you l-" before he is interupted by Naruto waking up.
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