Realization

"Who… Am I?"

Filled with utter disbelief, Madara stared at the mirror in front of him. His face was completely different from what it used to be.

His long mane had disappeared, replaced by much shorter hair. Grasping at the empty air around his neck, Madara remained at a loss.

"Aniki... Don't scare me! What happened to you?"

Turning around to face the boy, Madara took a large breath. Exhaling, he managed to calm down and decided to approach the situation with a cooler head. If he wanted answers, he'd have to think calmly.

'He's probably around ten... It shouldn't be too hard to trick him…"

Although Aito looked exactly like his deceased brother, Madara quickly dismissed the idea. He sat on the bed, facing him.

"Aito… I seem to have lost my memory. Maybe, if you can answer some of my questions, it might help me remember."

"...!"

Hearing Madara's words, Aito regained hope as he dried off his tears and sat upright.

"Ask away!"

"Right… Let's start with a simple question… Who am I?"

Without hesitation, Aito smiled and answered the question with vigor.

"Your name is Jun[1], and you're fourteen-years-old. You are a member of Konoha's Uchiha clan, and currently a student at the ninja academy!"

"What?!"

Although Madara tried to keep his composure, it was becoming increasingly hard. If Aito wasn't lying, he had been reincarnated.

'How could this be… Was it the Rikudō's doing?'

Deciding that it wasn't the moment to think about it, he continued to question the kid.

"How many years has it been since Konoha was established?"

This time, Aito visibly struggled. Madara's question was too much for an eleven-year-old kid. Noticing this, Madara decided to change his question.

"Can you tell me all of the Hokage we've had so far… In order? Also, tell me the age of the current one, if possible."

"That's easy! So… We've had, the first Hokage, Senju Hashirama. Then, the second Hokage, Senju Tobirama. Finally, we currently serve the third, Sarutobi Hiruzen. He's forty, almost forty-one… I think."

With his intellect, Madara was quick to connect the dots. If his calculations were correct, it was almost three years before the coming of the second great ninja war.

'I remember now… At this time, I was still searching for the perfect pawn, to achieve my plans...'

Reminiscing for a bit, Madara decided he had heard enough... The rest would naturally follow. Getting the young boy's attention, he smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Alright, I think my memory's coming back… Aito, I need you to promise me something."

"Yes?"

"You can't speak a word of what happened to anyone... Just act as if though I'm still the same, and hopefully, everything will go back to normal. Do you understand?"

He couldn't risk people learning about this. It would be best if fewer people knew about his memory loss.

"Sure! That's ok!"

Happy with Aito's answer, Madara fell back on the bed and stared at the roof. Ignoring Aito's presence, he started thinking about the situation.

If he had been reincarnated, he wouldn't waste this chance. Unlike his previous self, he would right his wrongs and turn over a new leaf.

Interrupting his thoughts, Aito spoke up once again.

"By the way, Aniki, we should go see big-sis Akane... You need to heal those wounds before the academy graduation exam!"

"Wounds?"

Furrowing his brows, Madara got back up and walked towards the mirror one more time. This time, he removed his high-collar shirt and stared at his bare upper body.

Bruises. That's all he could see.

Bruises filled every corner underneath his shirt, almost making it look like his skin-color was purple.

"This..."

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[1] Jun means "pure", a direct contrast to Madara, which is widely thought to mean "Tainted", or "Impure". It's small wordplay, implying that he's been 'purified' through reincarnation.