There is a lot of development between Sasuke and Sakura in the Forest of Death. In some ways, you could consider the Forest of Death arc a SasuSaku genin arc, since their relationship develops so much and has a surprising amount of focus in this arc.

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We see that Sasuke is aware of and reliant on Sakura's intelligence, as he makes a long password code in the Forest of Death, relying on Sakura's ability to flawlessly remember it word for word (meanwhile he relied on Naruto being too stupid to remember any of it). It shows Sasuke's faith in Sakura's strengths and memory skills, trusting her in potentially lethal scenarios to be a quick study.

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The Forest of Death is where Sakura starts to witness firsthand that the cool, unshakably brave and calm Sasuke isn't as infallible as she used to think. Sakura's infatuation of Sasuke as the perfect cool guy is stripped away as she realizes how human he is. Sasuke and Sakura experience many hardships together, a harrowing experience that brings them closer together. While Naruto gets split from the group and is largely out of things, Sasuke and Sakura are put through the ringer, being repeatedly attacked and experiencing the paralyzing horror of Orochimaru's genjutsu. They experience the pain and fear of death so intensely that it freezes them in their tracks. Sasuke has to injure himself just to be able to move again in time to save himself and Sakura in the nick of time.

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While Sakura was the one originally paralyzed by fear, Sasuke becomes consumed with panic, causing him to fumble and make sloppy mistakes. Of the two, Sasuke was the first to overcome the terror of Orochimaru enough to flee. But a crippling fear takes hold of him. Sakura witnesses him panicking, noting that she's never seen the usually calm, collected Sasuke behave like this before. Sasuke is consumed by panic because he knows they are faced against a superior opponent well beyond their level, and he's terrified of this higher level opponent. Suddenly Sasuke is stripped of his confidence and sureness before Sakura's eyes, and Sakura sees the terrified, panicked boy underneath. She realizes Sasuke is not as mentally and psychologically invincible as she had always imagined him to be. Yet this realization doesn't lessen or decrease her love and admiration for him. Sakura still respects him and loves him and accepts him for who he is, even in his frightening and pathetic state of terror.

 

Once they are "safely" in a tree, Sasuke frantically keeps watch, but it is actually Sakura who maintains sense and awareness, better than Sasuke. She notices the lethal snake creeping on them, which Sasuke misses, and Sakura warns Sasuke just in time to give him the chance to avoid the snake's attack, saving his life.

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In the showdown with Orochimaru, Naruto refused to accept the shaken, scared, cowardly Sasuke as the real Sasuke. Naruto ridicules his Uchiha teammate's frightened state as an imposter with the accusation: "You're not the real Sasuke".

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On the other hand, Sakura shows that she accepts Sasuke for who he is. She criticizes Sasuke for freezing up in the face of battle (which is not a situation Sasuke can afford to freeze up in), but she doesn't deny that this frightened, scared Sasuke isn't the real Sasuke. Sakura perceives that this undesirable side of Sasuke she is currently seeing is the genuine Sasuke as well. Sakura accepts that his frightened persona is just as real as the cool, suave, collected, and confident version of Sasuke that she has been accustomed to her whole life. When a cowardly and terrified version of Sasuke emerges for the first time in Sakura's life, she doesn't reject him as a "false Sasuke" and scorn him for failing to live up to the cool, collected Sasuke she wants him to always be (the way Naruto does in this scene). Sakura fully accepts Sasuke for who he is, but lets Sasuke know that the frightened ninja he is now isn't desirable or admirable, and that he needs to rise above his cowardice.

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So when Sasuke freezes up in the face of Orochimaru's opposition, it is Sakura who snaps him out of it. Sakura accuses Sasuke of being a coward, reprimanding Sasuke by telling her Uchiha teammate that while he may have more talent and intelligence and skill than Naruto does, at least Naruto has guts. Ouch.

 

I'll admit that the moment would've been more inspiring if Sakura had participated in the fight herself and proven her own bravery and resolve to fight in the face of a terrifying foe rather than lecture Sasuke about his cowardice form the bleachers. But the point still remains: Sakura's words affect Sasuke so that he is able to overcome his paralyzing fear and realize what a cowardly fool he had been. Sakura's speech was able to spur him into action when even Naruto had failed to coerce Sasuke into overcoming his panic. Sakura's words inspire Sasuke into action, triggering him to break out of his crippling fear; he regains courage in the face of terrifying danger because Sakura's words inspired him to do so.

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After Sasuke received the curse mark from Orochimaru, Sakura had to deal with seeing her beloved teammate in horrible pain by herself (Naruto was unconscious). Seeing Sasuke in that much pain is hard to watch even for me, so I can't imagine how terrifying and traumatizing it would have been for Sakura to see the person she loved most dearly in such immense pain and to know there was nothing she could do about it.

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For a nice SasuSaku tidbit, Kishimoto dedicates a panel to Sasuke clutching tightly to Sakura's hand for support. Sasuke's pain is so immense (only 10% chance of survival) that it renders him seemingly unable to think or say anything other than scream in pain. Yet the one thing he clings to is Sakura's presence, tightly clutching her hand for support and solace through the overwhelming pain. He eventually collapses into Sakura's lap while Sakura anxiously worries over her comrade.

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Because Sakura and Sasuke experienced so many harrowing hardships together in the Forest of Death, it connects them in a special way. Sakura may not have the understanding of the suffering of Sasuke's past the way Naruto does, but Sakura understands Sasuke's present, as she suffers alongside him through the same harrowing experiences he is experiencing, right at his side. Sasuke and Sakura both experienced the terrifying and paralyzing power of Orochimaru's illusion and imagining their deaths, they both experienced the fear of fighting against a far stronger opponent, Sakura witnessed firsthand Sasuke suffering physically (she witnessed the intense pain the curse mark caused him as she watched him on the brink of death) and psychologically (she saw Sasuke's panic and consuming fear). Sakura had seen Sasuke in pain, and she wanted to take that pain away (symbolically beginning to assume her role of the healer).

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Meanwhile Naruto is largely outside of all that is going on with his two teammates. Where Sakura and Sasuke are united by the trials they face together, Naruto becomes an outsider looking in. He misses the immeasurable pain Sasuke suffers from the curse mark, he largely misses Sasuke's panic in the face of a stronger foe, and he doesn't experience the same frightening situations Sakura and Sasuke had endured together. I'd go so far as to say that Sakura and Sasuke had a lot more build-up in their relationship in this arc than Sasuke and Naruto did. In the Forest of Death arc, Sasuke and Sakura are a partnership, a duo facing the trials of the chunnin exams together. Meanwhile Naruto is something of a third wheel.

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During the fight with the Sound Ninja, Sakura was inspired by Naruto, Lee, and Sasuke, who she termed as her "teachers", the role models for the kind of person she wanted to be.

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Because of Sasuke's (and Naruto's and Lee's) influence, Sakura was able to find her courage and defend her comrades to the best of her ability. In battle, Sakura cuts her hair, a symbolic way of showing how her character has matured. No longer is she worried about alluring Sasuke with her physical charms in order to win his heart. Now she only cares about protecting her friends and helping her teammates. Sure, her overall performance in that fight was a bit disappointing. But you gotta admit that continuing to bite the shinobi repeatedly pummeling her in the face takes guts, and it was Sasuke and Naruto and Lee who inspired that and helped Sakura to be braver and stronger than she would have been on her own, without their influence.

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When Sasuke's curse mark takes control of his body, he awakens to the battle with the Sound ninja and is immediately enraged when he sees Sakura injured. Sakura is the first thing he focuses on when he wakes up, notably unlike Naruto, who never even registers Sakura's injuries at all, only that her hair was cut. Ironic that Sakura had grown her hair long to impress Sasuke, yet it's actually Naruto who cares more about physical appearance, while Sasuke cares more about Sakura's wellbeing and welfare (note how unimpressed Sasuke and Ino are, to the point of appearing annoyed with Naruto's callous ignorance?).

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Sasuke demands to know who attacked her, and then resorts to brutally hurting the Sound ninja responsible for Sakura's injuries. His rage at Sakura's injuries causes Sasuke to go on a brutal rampage against the enemies who dared to hurt Sakura.

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Sakura recognizes that Sasuke isn't acting like his usual self, and that he's become a monstrous version of himself that the true Sasuke wouldn't want to become. Her mind frantically flashes to memories of the Sasuke she knows, the kinder, happier, more heroic Sasuke – not at all like the cruel rampaging Sasuke she is now witnessing. Sasuke is sinking into darkness and a depraved irrationality that isn't true to who Sasuke really is at the heart of his character, and Sakura knows she must bring a stop to his rampage, because she knows it's something that the real Sasuke would not accept or want to be, were he truly in control of himself.

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While the rest of her peers are frozen in fear by Sasuke's terrifying fury and power, Sakura's love for her comrade compels her to take action and put a stop to Sasuke's brutal rampage. She rushes into the middle of the action and hugs Sasuke, wrapping her arms around him to prevent him from moving further.

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It's a bold action, since Sasuke is in a terrifying frame of mind and doesn't seem quite in control of himself. Indeed, Sasuke's initial reaction is to glare back at Sakura. But even in his wild state, where he seems unhinged and barely has control over himself, he is still able to recognize Sakura and recall her importance to him, Sakura's loving hug is the catalyst he needs to regain control and get a grip on himself again. Sakura's love overcomes his hatred, her sadness placates his anger, and her presence immediately calms him down.

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If the Forest of Death hug scene isn't enough to convince one that Sasuke cares about Sakura and that Sakura has a special effect on him, I don't know what is.

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Additionally, throughout this arc, Sasuke and Sakura share a parental, adultish vibe that Naruto is detached from. Some SasuSaku fans have even joked that before Sasuke and Sakura had Sarada, their first kid was Naruto. Often Sasuke and Sakura are standing together or having serious conversation while Naruto acts like a kid, carefree and ignorant of what is going on around him. One scene, Sasuke and Sakura have a serious discussion about their chances in the chunnin exams as they contemplate how many scrolls are left. Meanwhile Naruto is completely checked out of the conversation and isn't interested in strategizing or discussing the troublesome situation his team is in. Instead Naruto ignores Sasuke and Sakura's serious conversation and only greedily thinks about food, hoping to take the biggest fish for himself.

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In another scene Sakura and Sasuke wonder how Naruto has so much energy when they themselves are exhausted and worn out, sounding almost like an exhausted couple with an over-energetic child.

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On top of that, Sakura was more attuned to Sasuke than Naruto was, noticing his waves of pain caused by the curse mark, and advising him not to push himself. Sakura is even observant enough to tell Sasuke not to use his Sharingan, making the correct observation that the usage of his dojutsu made his reaction to the curse mark worse. While Naruto totally checked out where the physical wellbeing of his teammates was concerned, Sakura and Sasuke both showed a high level of sensitivity and awareness to each other throughout the arc.

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It gives off parental vibe between them, with Naruto as the kid who still hasn't realized how serious everything is. Sasuke and Sakura keep Naruto in the dark and deal with serious matters between themselves. Sakura pretends that her haircut was no big deal, Sasuke asks Sakura to hide the curse mark and the pain it causes him from Naruto. Both make light of near-death situations for Naruto's sake in order to protect their third unsuspecting teammate from the full-blown trauma of what is actually occurring around him.