He stepped into the hallway, its walls lined with faded scrolls of Uchiha symbols and a few photos.
One showed Hana, a stern man with sharp features, and a younger Raizen grinning wide.
Kenta, his father, he was a jonin and killed two years ago by Iwa ninjas. The loss stung like a wound Daniel hadn't suffered but felt.
He shook his head forcing himself to focus, and followed the scent of miso soup to the kitchen.
Hana stood at a low stove while stirring a pot. Her dark hair was tied back, and her face etched with faint lines from long hospital shifts softened when she saw him.
She was in her early thirties, her sleeves rolled up with a medic-nin's precision in her movements.
The kitchen was small, with a wooden table set for two: rice, grilled mackerel, miso soup, and pickled radish.
A family photo hung on the wall with Kenta's face staring out.
"You look pale," Hana said, setting a bowl in front of him. "Are you feeling nervous about tomorrow?"
Raizen sat, his hands shaking slightly as he picked up chopsticks. The food's warmth was grounding, but his mind raced.
He wasn't sure how to answer for Hana was a stranger, yet she was not.
"Maybe," he said, his voice was quieter than he meant. "It's… a lot." He scooped rice and chewed slowly, the flavor felt unfamiliar but soothing.
His stomach settled but his thoughts didn't.
Hana sat across from him with her own bowl steaming.
"Graduation's a big step. You've earned it Raizen, coming third in your class isn't easy." Her voice was warm, but her eyes searched his face like she sensed something off. "Your father was a wreck before his ceremony, you know. He kept sharpening his kunai all night."
Raizen's lips twitched, it was a reflex from Raizen's memories not Daniel's.
"Yeah?" he said trying to sound natural. "Guess I'm not that bad, then."
He sipped the miso soup and the salty warmth steadied him. Hana's kindness was disarming, but he felt like an impostor wearing her son's skin.
"You're not," Hana said, smiling faintly. "But don't let the clan's expectations choke you. You're Raizen, not just an Uchiha." She paused with her tone shifting. "Tomorrow's the ceremony, then team assignments. Have you thought about who might end up on your team?"
Raizen's mind blanked, then flickered with names from Raizen's memories. "Um… well, there's Taro Inuzuka," he said, grasping at fragments. "You know him, he's always loud but you can count on him. He is solid as a rock. And Kana Hyuga's… She is intense, but she is good too."
The names felt right, they were classmates he'd trained with but they were shadows in his mind, not fully his.
Hana nodded while sipping her tea. "Taro, that kid's got spirit, and Kana's a Hyuga so she'll push you. That's good." Her eyes grew distant. "Just… be careful, Raizen. Things are tense out there. Stick with your team, listen to your sensei."
Raizen caught the warning, his anime knowledge filling in the blanks: Iwa and Kumo stirring and the Third War was a year away.
He nodded while finishing his rice. "I will." His voice was steadier now, but his mind was a mess.
He needed air and space to think.
Hana stood while clearing her plate. "I'm at the hospital until late. Rest up today, tomorrow's big." She hesitated, then pulled him into a brief hug. Her embrace was warm and her hands steady, and Raizen stiffened unaccustomed to the touch.
"You'll do fine," she said while stepping back.
"Thanks, Mom," he said with the word strange on his tongue.
He watched her grab her apron and leave and the door slided shut with a soft thud.
Alone, Raizen sat for a moment staring at the empty bowls. His hands trembled, and he clenched them.
"Get it together," he muttered. He wasn't Daniel anymore, but he wasn't fully Raizen either.
He stood and the chair scraped, and stepped outside.
The Uchiha compound was quiet, its tiled-roof houses bathed in morning light. A woman swept her porch, her Uchiha crest stark on her shirt. In a courtyard, a toddler two or three maybe, tossed a wooden kunai with a woman watching closely.
The sight was surreal, grounding the world's reality.
He kept walking, passing a training field where sparks of fire jutsu flickered and two shinobi laughing mid-spar.
Konoha's streets were stirring as merchants set up stalls, their voices hawking fruit and cloth.
A girl chased a stray cat, giggling.
Raizen wandered with his sandals scuffing the dirt, and stopped at a stream where its water is clear over smooth stones.
And the Hokage Rock loomed above with the carved faces staring down.
He leaned on a bridge's railing and his reflection, a boy he barely knew.
His chest tightened thinking he was here, in Naruto, with a war coming and a clan doomed.
He didn't know how to be Raizen, not yet, but he couldn't stay Daniel either.
Tomorrow, he'd face the graduation and step into this life.
For now, he watched the stream letting the world's weight settle, one shaky breath at a time.