Larry: You're right, I stand corrected. I skimmed exception 3 and thought it referred only to single-conductor cables. I'm still a little surprised it's allowed for NM.
caselec/gfretwell: Agreed. The hot pair can enter either the fan box (my example) or the switch box having the fan cable (yours). I like your way: it saves having to reidentify the white wire in the fan cable. Clean.
