The social skills thing is funny. Most of us don't learn to call other people "dickless pansies" and such from a book. You mostly get that through social encounters. What makes him different from other swearing characters is that he acts all polite, and it come out of nowhere (as well as very provoking). It's interesting that someone mentioned Yamato was actually spying in that tree when the kunai hit. I had the impression that he thought Tsunade's suspicion was too much. But he's ANBU, so following orders is his job.

Another reason that Naruto might seem more mature now is what he's doing around the village. In the older seasons, we was seen running around all the time, and talking about training and stuff, kind of like a kid with an obsession. Now he's seen walking, not running, mostly, and is socializing like older teenagers. Lazy was correct in a sense.