I don't see how they could be, since the earliest Yuffie comes into the story is Costa de Sol, even in the original. While Jesse, Biggs and Wedge all seemed awed by Cloud in the original, Jesse was always a little moreso. To be honest, in hindsight, I'm surprised she wasn't awkward with her flirting in the Remake, given how awkward her character was in the original. Especially since she was somewhat clumsey in the Remake.
I never quite got how some people were so into Cloud/Yuffie. While in my very first playthrough I was very much a Cloud/Aeris shipper, I could at least understand the strong support for Cloud/Tifa (After Advent Children, I did open up to Cloud/Tifa more).