"You either die a hero, or live to see yourself become the villain."

–The Dark Knight

The Rikudo Senin is hailed as the most powerful Shinobi who ever lived. Legends claim that he mastered chakra in less than a year. Others claimed that he learned everything he knew while he fought monstrous foes in the mountains.

No one knows the secret to the Rikudo Senin's rise to power.

Loop of the Fallen's Rise:

Sequence One:

The full moon cast an eerie glow upon the silent streets. It was the only witness to the events transpiring below.

I ran through the streets of the Uchiha sector of Konoha. I followed the small form of my little brother as he weaved and stumbled past the strewn bodies of our aunts, uncles and cousins that lay in the streets.

Peace or the lives of his family. That was the choice I had been given earlier this morning. The results of my choice currently rest in the streets, victims of sequence of events that led to their ultimate downfall.

Fools. Did they not consider what overthrowing Lord Hokage might cause? Did they not realize that their revolution could cause another brutal Shinobi War?

My brother turned and ran down a small alley, evidently not thinking clearly for that particular road led to a dead end. He turned to face me, tears streaming down his face, whether from emotional or physical pain I do not know.

"You killed them! You killed them all! Why did you kill them!"

"To test the limits of my capability." I said hoping that my voice did not betray my lie. I would speak to the Third later and ask that Sasuke be spared.

I could not kill my little brother.

Sasuke was openly sobbing by now, red tears streaming down his face. I activated my Mangekyo Sharingan preparing to reinforce the idea that I am a deranged homicidal maniac via the Genjutsu world of Tsukiyomi.

Red tears. Red tears.

Blood.

"I HATE YOU!" Sasuke screamed, tears of blood leaking from his eyes.

The last thing I saw—that I would ever see— was the enraged Mangekyo Sharingan of my eight year old little brother.

A moment later the black flames of the Amaterasu ignited my body. I screamed in agony as I was slowly burned to death. I rolled on the ground in a reflexive reaction to the fire killing me.

I, Uchiha Itachi, pride and joy of the Uchiha clan, just got killed by an eight year old academy student.

Sequence 2:

BEEP… BEEP…BEEP…BEE—

I slammed my hand against my alarm clock, turning off the rather irritating noise that it generated. I rubbed my eyes as I sat up, and glanced at the time and date displayed upon the digital clock, and froze.

February eleventh, six a.m.

The morning of the massacre.

I blinked and shook my head, perhaps it was merely a strange dream? I have been rather stressed lately, what with my family deciding it would be an absolutely brilliant idea to throw a coup. Thereby weakening the village and throwing the world into a fourth Shinobi war. Sigh, my family the power hungry vampires of the Ninja world.

I leaned my head against the wall. I was under too much stress and…regret. Shisui is dead by my hand, in order to gain power like Uchiha Madara. Madara the betrayer, who is currently within Konoha's walls. No wonder I was having strange dreams—how could I sleep when a killer hell-bent on destroying my clan or Konoha was so close?

Still the dream was…unsettling but it was still a figment of my imagination.

A tapping on the window drew me from my thoughts. I opened the window, letting the messenger hop onto my arm so I could detach the message from its back.

—Uchiha Itachi you are to report to the Hokage and the Head Councilers on matters pertaining to Mission #SDAIPE66.—

I was to report to the Hokage and the Council on matters pertaining to Mission #SDAIPE66. Just as I had done in the dream.

This is too odd. Nevertheless I cannot permit distraction from my objective. I will find a way to prevent my clan from putting the coup into action. I will not let Konoha be dragged into another war.

I dressed quickly; strapping on the ANBU uniform that had had to be specifically made for me—I was the youngest ANBU ever so they had no uniforms in my size. A point other ANBU like to bring up frequently to my irritation.

I ignored the odd feeling of déjà vu as I hopped on the rooftops toward Hokage Tower. It felt like I had lived through events the same as this once before. But it had only been a dream. It was impossible for someone to live the same day twice.

Somehow that thought did not comfort me.

-8 years later-

My lungs are burning, it is painful to breathe.

I am dying.

Just a few more minutes, that is all I need, just a few minutes.

I wheezed, struggling to get air into my aching lungs, as I coughed up blood and mucus. Sasuke's attack—the Kirin, a dragon composed entirely out of Lightning—had just hit me point blank. If I had not had the Susano'o, I would be dead.

Sasuke has been growing more and more panicked as I edge closer. Since I destroyed the Cursed Seal via the Totsuka blade that the Susano'o wields, Sasuke has been desperate. That is good; he has bought into the fact that I am a mentally unstable maniac who is willing to do unspeakable deeds in the pursuit of power. It will make it easier for him to resettle in Konoha…as a hero.

He will inherit the Uchiha name and I can finally die.

I edged closer; Sasuke took a step backwards, alarm flashed across his face as his back bumped into the wall immediately behind him.

I was a few feet away; then right in front of my little brother.

I raised my arm, index and middle finger extended. Sasuke was full out panicking at this point, as my fingers drew closer to his eyes.

My fingers poked his forehead like I had done when we were children.

"Sorry Sasuke, this is it."

I felt a painful lurch in my torso, I could not breathe. I felt my body fall forward, and vaguely felt my head collide with the wall. I may have felt my body slump to the ground.

Despite the fact that my body hurt, or the fact that I was literally living my last moments, I was still smiling.

I had accomplished what I had set out to do on that night eight years ago. Sasuke could now go back to Konoha as a hero. The taint of our clan's folly was washed away. The Amaterasu that I have planted in Sasuke's eye will silence Madara. Sasuke will never know what truly led up to and happened on the night of the massacre.

My world darkened.

I breathed my last breath, and died with the phantom pains of a long forgotten dream— a feeling of being burned alive.

Sequence 3:

BEEP… BEEP…BEEP…BEE—

I woke up with a start, confused and disoriented. I pushed the snooze button on the alarm clock I could not recall purchasing. I clambered out of bed in a slight daze toward the bathroom, where I kept my medication.

I blinked at the bright light in the room when I turned on the light. I had developed a hate for mornings when I realized that sleep meant not struggling to breathe correctly or burning sensations in my chest. Also time in ANBU and as a missing-nin has taught me that sleep is a godsend—on par with the substitution Jutsu.

I splashed water on my face in an attempt to wake up and raised my head toward the mirror directly in front of me.

I awoke instantly.

I raised a trembling hand to my non-skeletal face. My Sharingan activated, revealing that this was very real and not a dream.

My thirteen old self stared back at me with a shocked expression.

"I-impossible."

What was going on? The last thing I remembered was my battle, my final battle, with Sasuke. I remembered the burning sensation caused by my illness was nearly unbearable.

Then I realized something else: I was breathing easily. No burning sensation, no pain. For that matter, none of the injuries I had gotten during the battle ached or even stung. I checked my left leg that had been impaled by a large shuriken.

Nothing, not even a scar.

I was becoming increasingly more and more alarmed. I had no idea what was going on.

Could Madara have placed me in a Genjutsu? That was a possibility. But my sharingan would have seen through it.

I left the bathroom and received another shock. In my sleepy stupor I had failed to determine my surroundings. I sank to the floor. The day was getting weirder and weirder by the second. Not only was I apparently thirteen again, but someone had thought it would be amusing to put me in a rather admirable replica of my childhood bedroom in the Uchiha sector.

I pulled on a simple blue t-shirt and white shorts, mentally cringing at the Uchiha symbol on back. I had not worn any clan emblem since the massacre, it had felt wrong.

I jumped out the window and landed in a crouch outside. As I stood and took in my surroundings I nearly had a heart attack. In the distance I could make out the distinct monument that I could not forget even if I tried.

The Hokage Monument.

I was in Konoha—surrounded by people that would love to torture/interrogate and kill me in a number of incredibly uncomfortable and unpleasant ways.

When I had looked into the mirror only ten minutes ago I had entered the disbelief stage. When I discovered that someone had created a "replica" of my room I had entered the cautious stage. Now I was in the full put panic, find a place to hide FAST stage.

To quote a long dead friend of mine: "when surrounded by people who would for nothing less than to eviscerate you, you have two options: blow the crap out of them or run like the dogs of hell itself are chasing you."

I chose the latter. I would worry about supplies later. Right now I had to focus on getting out of Konoha as fast as possible.

I sped through the empty streets, leaping upon rooftops. As I ran I noticed that I was not going as fast as I was used to. Perhaps it had something to do with my apparent recession in age.

"Oy! Captain where are you going?"

I heard a voice that I had not heard in a very long time. I turned to face my former second in command of the ANBU squad I had commanded.

"Hyuuga-san"

The dark haired man looked startled at my emotionless voice. He had not aged a day since I had last seen him. I filed that away for later thought. Currently I had to get out of Konoha, I could figure out what was going at a later time.

"Captain is something wrong? You looked like you were running away from something." Hyuuga-san stated, stepping forward. "Are you feeling well?"

He took another step forward, I took a step back.

I edged closer; Sasuke took a step backwards, alarm flashed across his face as his back bumped into the wall immediately behind him.

I clenched my eyes shut and held my head in my hands as the scene flashed in my mind. I felt like I was missing something, something very important. I could hear Hyuuga-san calling for help as I sank to the ground my head clenched in my hands.

-a painful lurch in my torso, I could not breathe—falling forward—pain in my head—darkness and a final breath.

"Captain, can you hear me what's wrong?" Hyuuga-san demanded. He was crouching right in front of me his right arm rested on my shoulder as I shook. I had died.

I had died and somehow had returned to my thirteen year old body. I had been put in Konoha…and was being treated like I had never killed my…

"What is the date?" I hissed. An impossible solution to the odd occurrences of this morning came to mind.

Haruno withdrew his hand, startled or smart. My mind was racing; it should not be possible, it was practically impossible.

"February eleventh, why?"

I was shaking violently now.

There were many days in the eight years I had spent while a part of the Akatsuki where I wished that I could relive the day of the massacre. To prevent it. To save my family.

Now that I find myself in the past, the day of the massacre, I am ashamed to admit that I reacted in a way I rarely if ever do. I ran away.

I ran until I could no longer feel my legs. I did not look for a place to hide; I had no chakra or energy. I simply stood there gasping for breath and thinking.

I was scared.

I had just been killed by my little brother and now found myself reliving a nightmare. Actually now that I think about it, the dream where Sasuke activated the Mangekyo and killed me must have been real, it is the only explanation.

It was not until evening that the ANBU caught up to me. The battle was pathetic to say the least. I could not put up much of a fight, as my mental state was not in good shape nor did I have any chakra to spare. I had no weapons and was incredibly shaken up.

So I was killed for the third time at the Valley of the End.

How ironic.

Sequence 4:

BEEP… BEEP…BEEP…BEE—

My eyes snapped open and I groaned pulling my pillow over my head.

The clock told me that it was once again six a.m. on February eleventh.

Evidently I was stuck in what I had previously thought to only be conceived in the minds of people with too much time on their hands. I was in a time loop, reliving the same day over and over again.

So how should I go about this?

If I am stuck in a loop that starts at the same time each cycle, then there must be some trigger that I must figure out. For this I need to research. To test the limits of what I can and cannot do in this time loop.

Once I do that I can figure out how to escape the loop. Or at least figure out what is going on.

A messenger bird tapped on the window. I took the letter and closed the window.

I would start my research now. I had nothing better to do.

Preceding Sequence 1:

Deep in the land of Sound, a man worked diligently.

The man had dark long hair, pale skin and snake like golden eyes. One of the three Sanin from Konoha, Orochimaru was working on a special project.

He had already perfected the Edo Tensei a few years ago. His benefactor had been rather pleased. The ability to return great fallen Shinobi from their graves to the living was a great accomplishment.

However his benefactor failed to see the possibilities!

If he brought back ancient Shinobi, the ones whom legends had been written about, amazing Jutsus could be retaught. It was an opportunity Orochimaru could not resist. This was the reason he was currently working in the dead of night at an ungodly hour.

He sought to bring back one of the greatest ninjas who had ever lived. The one said to have created the modern ninja. The Rikudo Senin, the Sage of the Six Paths.

However in order to perform the Edo Tensei one needed a DNA sample and a cadaver. The body had been the easy part—he had countless minions who would not be missed. The DNA however presented a major problem; no one knew where the Sage had been buried, so Orochimaru had had to get creative.

He had extensively researched everything to do with the Senin. He had to wade through large amounts of absolute garbage before he found what he was looking for. The descendants of the Senin: the Uchiha clan and the Senju clan.

The samples had been rather easy to procure after that. He had simply gone through his stores of samples he had requisitioned from the Konoha hostpital.

Now Orochimaru watched the fruit of his labors begin to rise up from the ground. The coffin bearing the name Rikudo Senin was rising slowly up from the ground.

"You fool! You'll ruin everything!"

Orochimaru barely managed the kick that had been aimed at his head. A man with an orange mask and long hair landed on his feet and faced Orochimaru.

Through the single eye-hole of his mask, Orochimaru could clearly see the crimson glow of the Sharingan.

Orochimaru leveled a Death Glare ™ at the masked assailant.

"How dare you interrupt my research!" Orochimaru hissed. Somewhere in a tavern a white haired pervert sneezed.

The man made a dash for the coffin. Orochimaru quickly sent two serpents at the man. The first serpent phased right through but the second one managed to latch onto the man's arm.

Distracted the man paused just long enough for Orochimaru to land a punch to the man's head sending him flying into the wall.

The man slowly got to his feet. Killing intent was rolling off him in waves.

Around the world the Bijuu felt their chakra being sucked away. A familiar feeling was settling over them. Someone was attempting to fuse them together. Just as they had been when they had been a part of the Jyubi.

That was not an option. They all struggled and fought against it desperately.

Out of all the Bijuu, the Kyuubi was the only one to feel a strange sensation settle over him.

A feeling that he had not felt since he had been a part of the Juubi. When the Rikudo Senin had first appeared.

It seemed that damned man's final Jutsu had finally begun to take effect.

Both the men were prepared to fire off Jutsus when they were interrupted.

Smoke was filling the room as the coffin door began to open.

"What have you done?" the man asked as the door inched open.

Orochimaru ignored him and clutched the special kunai that would control the returned Senin and would force him to do whatever Orochimaru wished, like destroying the irritating pest who had decided to interrupt him.

The coffin door fell to the floor with an echoing crash. The sound bounced off the walls and around the deathly quiet room, as the two Shinobi looked at the coffin in shock.

Normally if the Edo Tensei had failed, the coffin would open to reveal the cadaver used. However in this case something completely different occurred, which was why both men were standing there, stupefied.

The coffin was empty, save for a single note.

"Many who live through terrible times wished that responsibility had never been thrust onto them. But that is not something for them to decide. What you must decide is what to do with the time that has been given to you.

Remember Death leads to the beginning and failure will lead to success. Time is your ally and destiny your foe. Succeed where I have failed. You will save them eventually, successor of mine."

An:

* Mission #SDAIPE66—S rank, double-agent, information, possible elimination-66

Disclaimer: I do not own nor profit from Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does.

If there are any mistakes in this chapter please inform me!

If anyone has suggestions or ideas for this fic please tell me!

(Anyone who reading this who is reading A Second Chance, A Second War, it will be updated at the earliest -mid June)

Review please.