The instance where Orochimaru met up with Kakashi, and Kakashi was shitting his pants...I mean, I guess by now Oro doesn't seem THAT powerful right? But even at the time, it just seemed weird at the time that someone as powerful as Kakashi would be scared shitless by Oro.
Also, I didn't like how the Third's death overshadowed Naruto's victory over Gaara. He should have been celebrated a hero at that point.
We know that Kakashi got much more powerful over the time skip. He used to be just some Jonin, but now he's among the most powerful in the village and was even considered to be the new hokage before Danzo stepped into the job. That said, I don't think Kakashi would do too well in a direct fight against Orochimaru, especially not now that he has his hands back. Orochimaru was able to fight the 4-tail Naruto and effectively "win" against it (pushed naruto so far out of the battlefield that he started attacking his own teammates). If the battle continued long enough maybe Orochimaru wouldn't have won, but because he pushed Naruto so far away with his sword technique the battle COULDN'T continue.
Kakashi, as we saw during the chuunin exams, had some ability with seals, but not as much as Orochimaru had. Without some kind of seal, I can't imagine that Kakashi could win in that fight. Orochimaru's body is effectively immune to physical attacks, and Kakashi doesn't have the kinds of chakra reserves necessary for a long, drawn-out fight against him. All of this ignores the possibility that Orochimaru could have multiple powerful Edo Tensei summons waiting around somewhere, to bring out if Kakashi was putting up a big fight.
So yes, Kakashi has gotten more powerful, but there are still plenty of reasons why he was and still should be afraid of meeting Orochimaru, alone.
