Alright, alright, I'm at a little bit of an impasse.
Not sure what I should focus on, this is my first time playing a fighting game besides just mashing (or at least, trying not to). Should I focus on just using normals/specials and learning the game by playing matches, or should I be in training mode trying to learn how to combo? I really can't get the timing down for a lot of the combos I'm seeing online, I can only do something like 2B>5B>5C>214D for Narukami and I can never pull it off in a match.
Just want to figure out what to focus my time on so I can become better.
The road to getting good at anything is a long one and will require patience plus tons of time on your end to put into it.
You have so much to cover to learn that there's really no wrong way to go about it. If you are using a controller, first thing I would check is how consistent your execution is. Can you do 50 quarter circle foward + button in a row without missing one to make the move come out for your character? On both sides of the screen? If so, then you're probably up to snuff on execution. If you suck and can only do like 4 then the 5th is botched, then it might be time to just work in training mode on getting consistent on just QCF motions, or hell if you're serious, invest in an arcade stick.
Some solid things to do to get better:
Learn to block properly. This means cross ups, high lows, etc. There's no reason to know solid combos if you can never pull them off since you are always getting opened up to be destroyed.
Learn 1-2 simple, yet effective combos that you can use as your go to's whenever you confirm a hit on someone. If right now that's AAAAAA then fine, go for it.
Learn other characters and what they are capable of. If you've never fought a Labrys, then how can you defeat one in a fight? A good work around is to just go into the training mode or challenge mode with each character and do some of the trials just to see how their moves work so you have a better knowledge of what an opponent is doing in the fight with that character.
Practice,practice,practice. If you want to do ranked for the practice go for it. Private matches? Do that. Local fight? Works too. You just need to be taking the information you will be gathering and put it to use.
Above all don't get flustered about losing. I probably lost 200 matches in a row in SF4 until I had a miracle break through to get my first win. It takes work.