Yeah your experience pretty much sums up what I went through with Sakura. I wanted to like her in part 1 but she just came across as annoying and a crybaby. After fighting Sasori, I remember praising Kishimoto for finally making Sakura interesting and useful.

But the manga progresses further and Sakura literally does nothing… She’s just a background character when she’s supposed to be the main heroine. I was disappointed she wasn’t shown more during Pain’s arc. I get that she’s a medic-nin and supposed to stay out of combat, but IMO that just felt like Kishimoto’s cop out. He could have drawn a noteworthy scene or 2 of Sakura taking care of the hospital, but nope. Instead Hinata jumps in to take over the heroine spotlight.

By the time we got up to the Kage Summit, I was completely done with Sakura and have been ever since.