Cheerfulness
Sai was used to feigning cheerfulness. Only recently had he felt true happiness among his friends. He never knew what a powerful bond friendship could be until he met Naruto and Sakura. Ino was an interesting woman, she seemed to have a cheerful face on most of the time. However, Sai could see right through her empty smiles and laughs. He came to understand that people would do this as to not worry others. He didn't understand why. There were so many people who cared for Ino, he couldn't fathom why she didn't let the bonds of friendship help carry her burden. If there was anything that Naruto had taught him, it was that friends were there to help you and to lift you up. But she still went on with her masked smiles and fake laughs.
He was an more of an observer, he didn't usually trespass in the personal affairs of his friends (he still had to get used to that word). But one day when he had been observing Ino sitting on a bench and giving a fake smile to those who would stop to talk, he decided he would do something. He hummed in contemplation as he took out his sketchbook, hoping that the girl would stay seated long enough for him to make his point.
He captured her eyes and the way they didn't light up when she laughed. He captured the forced nature of her smile and the way she hunched over as if guarding herself from the outside world. He wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there, perfecting every detail of the young woman's face as he sketched. As he finished, he stood and strode over to the blonde who was still sitting on the bench she had adopted.
"Oh, hello Sai" she greeted with another fake smile as he sat down next to her.
"Is there something troubling you?" Sai asked, not expecting a truthful answer
"No, I'm fine" she brushed it off, sending him another painfully fake smile. Sai silently handed her his sketchbook, the page flipped open to the portrait he had drawn of her moments earlier. She looked surprised as she gazed at the drawing.
"This is amazing…but why are you showing me this?" she stammered, obviously taken aback by the gesture. Sai pointed a finger at the face on the sketch
"You may think you are projecting happiness, but I still see that the girl in the picture is sad. The way she sits and the way she smiles" he said. Ino sniffled as she looked away from him. Sai looked alarmed, he hadn't meant to make her cry.
"I…I just miss my father" she said, so low he had to strain to hear it. Her father. Sai knew the feeling of losing someone you loved, and he knew there was no way for him to bring her smile back. He just wanted her to be cheerful again, so he began to speak.
"I had a brother named Shin…" he proceeded to tell her all about his adoptive brother, and as he told her of the fond times they had (being extra careful to leave out anything gruesome) he began to notice a genuine smile start to creep onto her face. Soon enough she was laughing and sharing stories of her own. Just seeing her smile made Sai cheerful. He always wanted to see her smile, and with any luck he would be there to make sure she always did.