Please go and re-read the fights of part 2 and look up the third data book (which ends right before the pain arc...and you can't even say that Naruto became stronger in the mean time as every training he did after that was incredibly specific and did nothing to expand his 'base-line stats').
This is a universe where economic prosperity for a country is determined by a sequence of mercenary contracts written by civilians or political entities that entail escorts, protection, assassination, and even full-fledged wars. It's expected that you would maintain and improve your relative strength on your own time time to increase your effectiveness as a shinobi. Aside from a scarce few exceptions like early Part 1 Kakashi who admitted that he had not encountered anyone notable that could challenge him for some time, the characters are always improving their strength, intelligence, speed, jutsu arsenal, chakra manipulation, or refining their fighting style.
I did read the Part 2 fights. Sage training and bijuu training largely focus on harnessing the external forces of substances or beings to supplement Naruto's already existent abilities, true, but that doesn't mean any improvements in statistical areas while in these forms wouldn't yield any benefits for his basic skillset as well. His chakra manipulation has undoubtedly improved as a result of the allocation and creation methods of those modes- some proponents even argue that it's superior to Sakura's when he distributed and manipulated it to coincide with the Alliance shinobis' respective chakra style.
That Naruto can hold his own (which, by the way, completely exhausted Naruto. He wouldn't have hold out any longer anyway before he got another sage mode) against Deva-Pain doesn't mean anything in regards to Sakura's hand2hand skills.
Naruto was already fatigued due to his prior usage of Sage Mode which consumed an ample amount of his chakra. He was going into that fight with only a third of his usual stamina available because of the battery clone system he utilised to refill himself with sage chakra. The fact that he could persist in holding his own in taijutsu with the same being that was giving Kakashi difficulties is a testament to his incredible endurance and CQC aptitude - and yes, it's a far more notable feat than anything Sakura has ever managed to scrounge up when punching Part 1 Ino in the face several times before getting knocked out.
Naruto has never shown any impressive 'speed feat', as you put it, beyond Sakura's.
In fact Naruto is only 0.5 points faster than Sakura.
As you referenced previously, the 3rd Databook is only applicable up until the end of the Itachi Pursuit arc. Don't mince words by arguing that Base Naruto never improved again just because he happened to have access to superior modes. The confrontation with God Realm still stands, as does his incredible performance against Sasuke in the initial stages of their second fight where his colliding attacks with Sasuke were generating shockwaves from the impact alone.
If you want a more direct comparison then you need only look at Naruto and Sakura's respective performances against Omoi and Karui. The former was capable of holding his own in a 2 against 1 scuffle, whereas the latter was promptly dispatched with a simple jump kick because she was either inattentive of her surroundings or she was incapable of avoiding due to the linearity of her fighting style prohibiting her from adjusting her posture in mid-attack.
Would you like to know what Sakura's method of fighting is classified as? It's a boxing style called "The Slugger". Here is the relevant information concerning it...
"The slugger (also brawler) often stands for everything that's brutal in the sport. A lot of sluggers tend to lack finesse in the ring, but make up for it in raw power, often able to knock almost any opponent out with a single punch. Most sluggers lack mobility in the ring and may have difficulty pursuing fighters who are fast on their feet. They usually throw harder, slower punches than swarmers or boxers and tend to ignore combination punching. Sluggers often will throw predictable punching patterns (single punches with obvious leads) that often leaves them open for counterpunching." Sound familiar? Just sprinkle some basic-level regeneration on top and you have Sakura.
Additionaly Naruto doesn't have the observation skills necessary for anything else than dodging the most obvious attacks, Sasori would have killed him with no problems while Sakura could determine his attack patterns based on his fingermovements. Chiyo herself did say that she didn't even need to help Sakura dodging the iron-sand attacks (which were fast and had alternating patterns and forms).
The only instance of any kind of slightly impressive observation skills on Naruto's side were during the 'Kazuma arc' as he detected how Fuuka's jutsu worked and when he saw that Senjutsu attacks were effective against Jinchuuriki-Obito (which was actually pretty obvious).
All of which I give Sakura credit for after making the necessary deductions that account for her needing Chiyo to lead her through the first half of the fight so she could acquire this information. Ironically, the moment Sasori shifted attack patterns to something that she was unfamiliar with, Sakura folded under the pressure and required Chiyo's intervention again. This shortcoming when confronted by something that requires her to think on her feet has been ongoing and noted several times in the Kage Summit and war arcs.
You also overlooked Naruto's various stints of creativity that have taken Jonin by surprise when he was a 12 year old Genin. What about his comprehension of God Realm's cool-down time after using Shinra Tensei, Kaguya's dimensional transfer, or exploiting Kiba's heightened sense of smell on more than just one occasion. All of which outweigh reading some finger movements through prolonged analysis of a puppeteer whom she was mostly helpless against except for like 30-40% of the fight. This is the same girl who was successfully tricked by Ino of all people and believed that rushing a virtual god with unspeakable powers was an apt strategy. She's just fortunate that Madara chose to impale her through the stomach with a chakra rod instead of vapourising her with one of his many techniques.
Naruto on the other hand couldn't even detect Genjutsu (which Sakura has no problems to do) or find Kakashi during their test.
I'm sorry, when was this? Sakura's genjutsu affinity is one of the most underutilised qualities in the manga. Her feats in that area are virtually nil. The only two times where Naruto failed to deduct that he was in a genjutsu with Sakura nearby was in early Part 1 when his genjutsu stats were literally on par with Lee's - hardly a noteworthy feat in hindsight, especially with how scarce genjutsu usage is. The latter was intentionally written by Kishi as a vehicle for showcasing Sakura's strength. It was her thoughts and what she learned that was in the limelight at the time, not Naruto's.
That's exactly why both Tsunade and Sakura are even able to fight like that. They both are smart/intelligent and quick enough to see through the attack pattern, evade it and attack the enemy with maximum force.
Analysis and evasion have been the obverse of Sakura and Tsunade's fighting styles since the fight with Sasori. Their medical techniques permit them a certain amount of leeway that causes their fluidity and grace to wane, not that they had much to begin with. With the Byakugou, their strategy consists of tanking any attack that the opponent unleashes and then responding in kind with an attack of their own after being impaled on a stick. When she's forced to act on a spur of the moment, Sakura can't even react to some wooden spikes that Hinata was repelling. She's easily prone to deer in the headlights syndrome when confronted by something that she didn't account for.
The only medical shinobi who has kept true to the doctrine of survival through avoidance all of this time is Kabuto.
And no, her finding out how Zetsu's disguise worked was not 'average' as noone(not even Shikaku) had even an idea how that kind of infiltration could work in the first place.
Only after Zetsu neglected to consider that he was referring to a pig, not a human, which Sakura picked up on and referenced again to confirm her suspicions. She wouldn't have assumed a thing if the circumstances behind her profession didn't entail the study and care of various different species and their anatomy
Oh and when Sasuke moved so quickly that Sakura couldn't see him, neither Naruto nor Yamato could see him. Well, Yamato just said 'fast!' so he could have seen him but he's still slower than Sasuke.
That they did - but unlike Sakura, we actually have direct evidence to corroborate the idea of Naruto's base speed improving. It's interesting that you neglected to acknowledge Naruto keeping up with Sharinnegan Sasuke and having a brief exchange with him before resorting to Kurama. That should have immediately resolved any claims of Naruto's Base speed stagnating after the Itachi Pursuit arc.
Thanks to Genjutsu, raw strength, evasive skills and intelligence (and as Sakura actually has more battle experience than Naruto, that includes 'combat intelligence' as well) Sakura would absolutely obliterate Naruto in a straight fight as long as he doesn't use sage mode, Kurama or any other 'power up'.
Is this the same Sakura who was incapable of reacting to falling down a pit of lava or against some wooden spikes that the fodder were managing to dodge? Her nondescript genjutsu resistance - which Naruto happens to possess as well, being a jinchuuriki in sync with his bijuu - is moot because neither one uses illusions. Her briefly shown analytic skills against Sasori don't apply to opponents where she is not given the necessary time to carefully examine their abilities. Sakura can observe all she wants for however many seconds she has before being blitzed by Naruto, it won't make a difference.
How does Sakura have more combat experience? She's only ever fought a handful of times in the manga. Naruto has been challenging Chunin and Jonin tier opponents when he was 12 years old. He's challenged two of the Sannin to battle on at least one occasion, and trained for several years with the third (one of those Sannin being the superior of Sakura even at the end of the manga). The entire 4th world war was won thanks primarily to Naruto's actions. He fought in every major theatre against multiple Kage level opponents before challenging all of the bijuu, the Jinchuuriki, including the Jubi, various Akatsuki members, and ultimately the original user of chakra herself.
Compare this to the battles that Sakura has under her belt... Some disposable Sound genin, Team Oboro's mirage clones (off-screen), Ino, Sasori (her only impressive battle), a White Zetsu spy, Jubi fodder that everyone was taking on, a half-assed distraction run against Juubi Madara, and a single punch from an advantageous position above Kaguya (it's an impressive feat, true, but it's hardly comparable to what Naruto and Sasuke did at this time who were handling like 80-90% of the legwork with Kakashi and Obito taking another 9-19% of it).
How you came to the conclusion that Sakura has seen and done more in combat than Naruto is beyond me.
Edited by Atheck, 04 April 2015 - 05:08 PM.
Persona 5 hype 
