YEEAAAASSSSS! I believe this thank you very much. I do believe she was in love with Jiraya long before Dan arrived but that they were amidst a war and then her brother died and she was too lost and he cared about her too deeply to push anything other than being friends and then Dan showed up and of course she was going to fall in love and lose him again. So, when she was left with her feelings for Jiraya out and bleeding in the open. of course she was never going to give in and pass on the curse to him. Of course she was never going to love him openly and give the fates the satisfaction of taking him away from her, too. It was too much if she would have lost him, yet she did anyway, in the end. SHe lost him anyway.

And o course I believe Jiraya knew this, which is whhy he was so determined. He was determined to prove her wrong, prove to her that they CAN love each other and exist and he would not just disappear, except he did just that.

They are too sad but I love them too deeply