Mary

Of course Naruto didn't believe her - the minute she brought up Sasuke and the promise and forgetting them, Naruto knew something was up. It wouldn't have mattered the level of truth in Sakura's claims to love him, and this is why.

Naruto knew that she was lying about not caring about Sasuke, and that nothing happened to make her travel all the way to summit (her weird behavior was giving this one away). So when he hears Sakura telling him that she loves him, something that is hard for him to believe (he's stuck on the idea that she loves Sasuke), naturally he's going to think its a lie by association of the other lies he knows she's telling him.

Regardless, Naruto's blush during her confession, his response to her during their argument ("If you don't like me then just say so!" "It's just weird!" - he never denied liking her still), shows that he's still in love with her after the confession. Since that time, we've seen nothing to suggest that he doesn't still love her romantically.

Bottom line, whether or not Naruto believed Sakura is irrelevant - he's still in love with her at this point in time until we're shown otherwise in the manga.

It's not that he doesn't believe her. Naruto feels responsible for Sasuke's rage because he has not kept his promise.
That's why Naruto changes the subject to Sakura calling him a criminal. Sasuke is a hindrance and Naruto is confused. That doesn't count as rejection.

First off, let's cool it with the back-and-forths here. I've seen it happen more than once on this site, and it usually ends with awkwardness or one of the mods coming in.

Mary, you've brought up some great points, and I can tell from your posts that you're a true fan of this pairing. I also agree that we shouldn't have to put on "shipping goggles". I mean if we just flat out ignore arguments against our pairing, we're pretty much the same as a certain other fandom.
However, I do have to disagree with you on one point. Naruto didn't reject Sakura's confession. He himself didn't believe it was a sincere confession, so he wouldn't have been able to reject it. I've had this argument with SasuSaku fans on more than one occasion, where someone will simultaneously call Sakura's confession a "lie" and Naruto's reaction a "rejection". The fact of the matter is that it can't be both. If Naruto acknowledged Sakura's feelings as truth, then said he doesn't love her, or loves someone else, then his reaction would qualify as a rejection. But if he doesn't believe her feelings to be sincere in the first place, then how can his reaction be considered a rejection?
The best way to look at that scene is as confusion on both parties' parts.

Heh Heh, Pretty Cynical about NS for a NS fan aren't' cha? Not That I'm judging Or saying you're wrong but hear me out please; First off I know Sakura did not intend to tell Naruto the truth about the decision by the Konoha 11 to kill Sasuke in the first place, which in turn actually proves how sensitive she has become to his feelings and that, to some extent says she does love him already in some form or manner or she wouldn't be crying so much from guilt, I mean do you imagine a just a friend being that emotional for hurting you? though of course it also showed she was determined to change her self so as to not always rely on him for the rest of her life. Now We're not accusing that you don't like NS, but its does seem like you're arguing against them rather than for them, however I understand that you don't want to turn into something like NH or SS like, by being in denial of other possibilities and trying to be logical to facts as well and thats okay Its GOOD to think like that, its only that we all care about NS and thinking about the "what if it goes down the drain" concept will just make it depressing for us, though of course we would not rabidly attack other shippings like those NH or SS Fans