Hello readers! Oha-lucky! X3 I'm your navigator, shadow talon girl, here to bring you a super-special fanfiction I like to call… Garu's New Job! But you already knew that just by reading the title. ;)

In case I have any new readers, thanks so much for deciding to read my story! And thanks to all my wonderful readers who have stuck with me since the beginning.

I don't really think I need to explain this fanfiction… It's a spinoff from one of my other stories, but don't worry; you don't have to read that one just to read this. Still, I might end up incorporating some inside jokes from the other one as a treat for my loyal readers. :) You probably know the plot from the description, so other than that, I'm not going to spoil anything for you. Oh, and that has nothing to do with the fact that I have no idea what the whole plot is going to be. Of course I had the foresight to plan it! (As far as you know.)

Well, I don't want to keep you waiting for any longer! I'll stop the author's note right after this…

Disclaimer: I do not own Pucca or any of the characters in the show; they are copyright of VOOZ. I do own all original characters, plot, and character development not provided from the series. These will all be right to me as they appear.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, let's get on with the show. Happy reading!

April 12th

Today I started a new job. As one of Tobe's minions.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking. I only agreed to that deal in the first place if Tobe could get Shaman to help me with… well, you remember. Maybe he did nothing on purpose and hoped I wouldn't notice. Or maybe he really was that incompetent. In any case, seeing as my house was still haunted afterwards, technically, I owed him nothing.

So why am I doing this? Well, I could always use a little extra training, and Tobe provides just the sort of exercise I love: ridiculous and unexpected obstacles to keep me on my toes.

Plus, we were friends once, and I felt sort of sorry for him. I'm not sure if I really owed him anything, but I felt like I did.

Well, this morning at eight o'clock sharp, I knocked on his door, wearing the black ninja suit he had provided. For a couple of minutes, no one answered. I heard hectic shuffling behind the door, and I thought I heard something break. Just as I was about to let myself in, Tobe cracked the door open and slipped out, slamming it before I could get a look inside.

"Welcome, Garu," he said, "to your worst… Hey!" Suddenly he was staring angrily at me. "Did I forget to tell you to come in full uniform?"

I started, quickly checking the pockets of the suit until I found a matching black mask with a gray (or grey?) headband. I slipped them both on as fast as I could.

Tobe growled quietly, but continued. "Much better. Now, I welcome you to your weeklong nightmare… of servitude," he finished dramatically. Finally, he opened the door.

It was a horrible mess inside. Frankly, I hadn't expected it to be any less; I knew Tobe, eager to get the most of this, would leave it dirty just for me. There were muddy tracks on the floor and stains on the walls, piles of dirty black suits lay strewn about, shuriken jutted out from the wall and even on the ceiling.

As I walked in, I saw five other ninjas who turned to stare at me. "Master," one of them said, "is that… Garu?"

"Hey, you're right!" another announced. "He's trying to disguise himself! Ninjas, att-"

"NO!" Tobe interrupted. He took a star from his pocket and threw it at the offender. It missed, however, and simply hit the wall behind him. Tobe was unabashed, and continued: "Okay, who neglected to tell him that Garu was going to be working for me now?"

None of the ninjas answered, but the second ninja spoke again. "Wait a minute, Garu's on our side now? That's so cool!" he practically squealed. The other ninjas groaned.

Tobe smiled proudly, neglecting to tell him that I'd only be working for him for a week. "Well, yes, I know. But your leader has his ways," he said coolly. "Now, everyone clear out to the shed and get to work building." He didn't have to say what it was before all the others filed out the back door.

I glared at him. It was a little early to be working on another "vengeance" project.

"Oh, relax," said Tobe. "We're just fixing up the shed out back. Now, on to your assignment. I want you to sweep the floor until it's clean…" We both paused and looked down at what I had always thought was a packed-dirt floor. "I think there's wood under there somewhere… Anyway, then you need to gather up all the weapons and put them back on their rack," he continued, pointing at the empty rack by his bed. "My ninjas and I will be back in by noon for some refreshments. I'm assuming you know how to make... chocolate-chip cookies?"

I chortled and almost laughed, but I immediately covered my mouth when Tobe's eyes narrowed. I nodded, although it wasn't completely true; I usually read the instructions on the chocolate chip pack.

"Well, I look forward to seeing your progress by then! See you at noon." Grinning cockily behind his mask, Tobe ran off and out the back door.

Not wanting to risk what might happen if I started slacking, I got straight to work. I tried sweeping the floor for a good half hour before I realized the dirt wasn't going anywhere. I sat down in one of the hammocks, trying to think how I was going to do this. Then I saw a sword lying on the floor, and an idea hit me!

I took the sword and jabbed it into the hard dirt. After pushing it for a little way, I finally hit something harder. I tilted the blade and cut a small, lopsided circle in the ground, then scooped it out. There is was: a filthy wooden floor, buried beneath at least two inches of dirt.

I sighed. This was going to be a long day.

I set to work with the sword, cutting out chunks of the dirt and tossing them out the front door. Occasionally, I would have to move furniture, such as the stove or a punching bag, or toss clothes aside, so I could get the areas underneath them. On the other hand, some fixtures, such as the fridge or the sink, were already buried, and those I had to dig out. The process was exhausting, and by the time I was done, a small hill had formed on Tobe's lawn, and the sword was completely blunt. But it had worked. The floor was still dirty, but at least it was visible.

I then started working on the next task, cleaning up weapons. I had a hard time pulling some of the shuriken out of the wall, but eventually they were all back on their hooks and the swords on their racks. Well, except for one sword. I ran out front and thrust the sword I had used into the pile of dirt, knowing there were so many others that it wouldn't be missed.

Finally, I went over to a small area set aside as the kitchen for my last job: making cookies. I spent at least ten minutes searching through the cabinets to find all the ingredients and tools I would need. Before I started, I thought of how many I would need to make; since Tobe had five other ninjas at the time, I'd only make half of the recipe, leaving two for each. (At the last moment, I'd remembered that I counted as one of his ninjas now, so I added just enough extra for 14 cookies) Then, seeing as I only had a half hour before Tobe and the others came in, I got straight to baking. (I had no idea how silly that sounded until I actually wrote it down…)

Anyway, since I hadn't gotten any sleep the night before, I went to the closest hammock to rest for ten minutes. I figured the kitchen timer would wake me up. Well, it did, but not how I would have expected.

I heard the "ding" of the timer, and I reluctantly started to get up, when I heard a second ding follow. Then another, and another, rapidly increasing in frequency like a ticking time bomb. I hastily jumped up just as the beeping stopped and the oven door flew open, spouting cookies in every direction! I rushed to the table for the tray, and then ran after the cookies. I had to jump off walls, bounce on hammocks, and run along the banister at the top floor, but I managed to save almost all of them. One, however, managed to somehow get stuck between two beams on the ceiling, next to a couple throwing stars I hadn't noticed.

I decided it was too much trouble to jump off the top floor for a cookie, so I just left it there. I would just have to get one less.

I climbed down to the bottom floor, set the tray of steaming cookies on a table, and was about to lay back down, when I heard the door open.

Tobe had been whispering to the other ninjas, but he stopped as he nearly tripped on the threshold. Apparently, the floor was lower down than he was used to. When he managed to steady himself, he could only stare. His ninjas, ever obedient, did the same.

Finally, one of them spoke up. "Master Tobe… we have a FLOOR?"

A couple of the others started laughing, and one punched him lightly on the shoulder. Tobe walked in, still looking around in wonder. Then he glared at the others and they stopped laughing immediately.

"Why can't YOU guys be this good at cleaning?"

The ninjas looked around sheepishly, muttering, "We're sorry, sir," or "We'll work on it."

Tobe lead them (or "us", I guess) to the kitchen, where we each picked out our cookies. A couple of the ninjas complimented me on how well cooked they were.

"So, Garu," Tobe said after finishing his first cookie, "how'd you like my little surprise?"

I stared at him, taking another bite of mine. Then I remembered the oven, and I groaned.

Tobe chuckled. "Exactly what I was hoping you'd say."

"If you want to be able to cook," a deep-voiced ninja advised, "get used to it. We rigged it to do that a long time ago as a training exercise, but we never figured out how to un-rig it."

"On the bright side," another said, "at least we don't feel guilty about eating snacks, 'cause we get to burn calories right before we eat!" We all nodded in agreement.

The rest of the day, I'm afraid to say, was pretty boring. I spent the majority of it sweeping the excess dirt from the floorboards, while the others helped by scrubbing the walls. When all the day's work was done, we ordered noodles for dinner. Thankfully, I didn't have to answer the door; I can't tell how Pucca would react if she saw me like this.

I ended up getting the highest hammock on the left row. Figures; if I'd tried to write inside, everyone would be able to see me. I decided to wait for them all to fall asleep, then I came out to the front porch to write today's jour~-…

Sorry about that. Tobe had snuck up on me and told me to wrap it up. He's glaring at me as I write this, so I figure I should stop for the night. Plus, my back is still sore from digging out all that dirt with just a sword.

…Uh oh, he saw that… Gotta go!

Garu

YAAAAAYY! I kept my promise and updated today! Now I only have to do that six more times! :P

So, how'd you all like it? I'd love to hear what you think, so REVIEW! Praise me, criticize me, whatever you decide to do, all feedback is welcome and loved. I'd also like to know your favorite parts (and if you have any ideas, please, PLEASE let me know).

OMG! I just now noticed that this story is set on April 12th, and today is MARCH 12th! Now I have NO EXCUSE for missing a day!

Okay, whatever, I'll stop rambling. I really enjoyed writing this first chapter, and I hope you loved reading it just as much. :) I have to go now, but I'll see you tomorrow!

Bye-ni! (No, I haven't been watching too much Lucky Star; why do you ask?)