The very first moment where we see Sakura show off her newly polished skills is during the very first arc of Shippuden, when Gaara, who is now Kazekage, is kidnapped by two Akatsuki members. Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi all rush to the Land of Wind to find that Kankuro had been poisoned by one of the two members, in an attempt to rescue his younger brother. The medical unit of the Sand was unsure of what to do, and thus, turned to Granny Chiyo ? one of the Elders of the Sand ? for assistance. The old woman refuses, however, and Sakura steps in, tying up her hair and asking for ingredients so that she can whip up an antidote.

It’s revealed by the medical unit that the poison that was administered is one that had not been seen before, its molecular structure so complex, they weren’t sure they had enough time to heal the Kazekage’s brother. Sakura had merely asked a few questions before she requested herbs and equipment so she could start creating an antidote that would be incredibly specific for the poison.

Not only was the process of making the antidote delicate, but the method in which Sakura removed the poison from Kankuro’s body was unconventional and interesting to watch. Granny Chiyo, who originally had detested Konoha, came to slowly acknowledge Sakura as a medical ninja, and even she compared Tsunade to the pink-haired ninja.

In the same arc, Sakura set out with Naruto, Kakashi, and Granny Chiyo to track down Gaara and his two kidnappers. Naruto and Kakashi go on ahead to chase after the Akatsuki member who held Gaara in his possession, while Sakura and Granny Chiyo stayed behind to fight against the puppet master that had injured Kankuro, named Sasori. There are many tricks up Sasori’s sleeves, which he only reveals gradually as he continues to fight Granny Chiyo and Sakura.

Of course, having Sakura fight Sasori alone and have her win would automatically make her a Mary-Sue character, so for purposes of the plot, Granny Chiyo along with Sakura made Sasori have to seriously defend himself, otherwise he’d be in grave danger.

Throughout their fight, Sasori slowly acknowledges Sakura’s strength and says that she is a determined young lady ? someone so full of conviction and justice. He calls her foolish, but the more he spars and fights with her, the more he sees potential in her and acknowledges her. Sasori, having been thought of as fearful and ruthless, results to using his most lethal techniques in order to defeat both Sakura and Granny Chiyo. While some may argue that Sakura didn't defeat Sasori on her own, it’s important to note that Granny Chiyo does not have the physical strength that Sakura does in order to silence the Akatsuki member once and for all.

Sakura not only possesses physical strength that stuns both Granny Chiyo and Sasori, but her deductive skills as a ninja help her to make decisions quickly in order to save hers, and Granny Chiyo’s, life. When Sasori is about to die, he gives Sakura information of the whereabouts of another Akatsuki member, who knows for certain where Sasuke went. With the help of Granny Chiyo, Sakura was able to successfully defeat an Akatsuki member ? an achievement that not even Naruto had achieved yet.

Much later on in the Shippuden series, Sakura is stationed at the medical unit, healing other ninjas that were on the front-lines, fighting to defend the shinobi world. What we see is Neji coming into her tent and sitting down across from her, waiting to be healed. When the scene is first introduced, it’s already at least a little weird that Neji is there, since we know he was probably already out on the battlefield, fighting.

Essentially, what happens is that Sakura tests “Neji” asking about Tonton, her superior’s pet pig, and when “Neji” fails to answer correctly, Sakura immediately takes action and punches his face in, revealing that he was actually a white Zetsu, disguising himself as an ally in order to infiltrate into enemy territory and gain information.

Although it is arguable that any ninja that was good enough could detect whether or not someone was a fake, it’s important to note that the white Zetsu's are not ordinary ninjas, much less ordinary Akatsuki members. Other ninjas who are thought to have more experience and are sharper in terms of mentality and deductive skills, have been shown to be unable to quickly pick up on certain aspects of the war, white Zetsu's included.

Not only did Sakura immediately recognise that “Neji” wasn't acting like himself, but she tested that theory and when she was proved to be correct, she beat the enemy to a pulp which resulted in him asking her, “how did you know?”.

Although a simple moment, it showcases Sakura’s intelligence and heightened instincts that most, but not necessarily all, ninjas, need to possess. In just this one scene, we are shown that Sakura is both compassionate (towards her patients) and ruthless (towards her enemies), and what kind of heroine would she be if she didn’t display that kind of badassery?

Throughout the entire series, fans had been waiting for a “power-up” for Sakura. Naruto received multiple, and so did Sasuke ? so where was the long-overdue and very much deserved skill for Sakura? Although incredibly late, Sakura does eventually make her fans scream and shout when the diamond-shaped seal appears on her forehead, identical to the Uzumaki Mito’s and her own master’s seal. Up until this moment for Sakura, we learn that to obtain the Byakugou seal is not an easy feat.

Not only does the Byakugou seal completely heal the user of their injuries, but it also keeps their ageing skin to a minimum ? hence why Tsunade never looked her age! Having the Byakugou seal was always seen as a symbol of strength amongst all ninjas in the shinobi world. Even throughout the series, it was somewhat predictable that Sakura would inherit much more from Tsunade than just her medical ninjutsu.

In order to obtain the Byakugou seal, a ninja has to have close to perfect chakra control. From the start of the Naruto series, it’s been stated that controlling chakra is not an easy feat. Naruto and Sasuke spent so much time at the start trying to do just that, whereas Sakura was able to fine-tune her chakra control better than her boys. That in itself is already a reason to say that she would become a better ninja, one that was infinitely better than her original state. Sakura controlling her chakra as she healed other ninjas was one thing, but the fact that she spent years saving up chakra to a centre point on her forehead is an indication of her determination and desire to be better.

Not only did her fans praise her and applaud her for finally shining through, but her own sensei patted her head and gave her a hearty “well done”. Of the countless moments Sakura has throughout the series, her finally obtaining the seal is definitely one of the tear-jerkers for her fans ? since they are so proud of her for finally showing everyone how much of a badass she is.

A little while after Sakura’s seal shows on her forehead, Naruto’s life is thrown into danger when the Nine-Tails is extracted from him. Because of his Uzumaki blood, he is able to breathe ? but only for a little while. At that point, Gaara rushes to the medical ninjas who would be able to help his friend, and who else hops onto Gaara’s moving sand to help the blond-haired idiot? The girl he’s in love with, of course. Sakura shows no restraint in helping Naruto to recover from any injuries, but this moment where his life is truly in danger is when Sakura becomes frantic, apprehensive, and truly afraid.

She listens for his heartbeat and tries to heal him with chakra alone, but when she finds that that is ineffective, she makes an incision in his side and pumps his heart with her bare hand. If that is not an indication of how amazing Sakura is, perhaps the fact that she breathes air into Naruto’s mouth will give more reason for her to be labelled as badass.

Unlike in her other shining moments listed above, this particular Sakura moment is tinged with strong and deep emotions that drive her to make decisions. This is a perfect example of her letting her heart guide her to make decisions. If she were a normal medical ninja that had no knowledge or skill to do her job well, she would not have pushed herself and used part of her own life force to revive an almost-dead Naruto.

The fact of the matter of this scene was that Sakura was almost completely out of chakra and had originally been trying to recover so that she, along with Tsunade and Shizune, could heal the other ninjas on the battlefield. When she hears that Naruto’s life is in danger, she doesn’t care about replenishing her own chakra ? but rather, thinks of ways to use what remaining chakra she has to save her best friend.